According to a recent survey conducted by the Sakal media group, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the most popular party in Maharashtra, with Devendra Fadnavis being the preferred choice for Chief Minister. However, due to sympathy for Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) stands a better chance of becoming the largest vote puller in the assembly polls.
BJP, Congress most preferred parties
The survey, which contacted 74,330 voters from all 288 assembly segments and 48 Lok Sabha segments, revealed that 26.8% of respondents preferred the BJP, while 19.1% favored the Congress. Other parties were divided as follows:
NCP Sharad Pawar: 14.9%
NCP Ajit Pawar: 5.7%
Uddhav Thackeray: 12.7%
Eknath Shinde: 4.9%
MNS: 2.8%
PWP: 0.4%
VBA: 2.8%
AIMIM: 0.4%
SSS: 0.3%
Prahar: 0.3%
BVA: 0.6%
KCR: 0.8%
AAP: 0.7%
Independent: 1%
Other: 5.5%
The survey also highlighted the MVA's advantage, with the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar), and Shiv Sena (UBT) collectively garnering 46.7% of the votes. In comparison, the MahaYuti, consisting of the BJP, NCP (Ajit Pawar), and Shiv Sena (Shinde), received a total of 37.4% of the votes.
Fadnavis still most popular for CM post
Regarding the preferred choice for Chief Minister, a majority of respondents favored Devendra Fadnavis, followed by Uddhav Thackeray, Ajit Pawar, Eknath Shinde, Supriya Sule, Ashok Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, and Jayant Patil.
Devendra Fadnavis – 21.9%
Uddhav Thackeray – 19.4%
DNCS – 17.7%
Ajit Pawar – 9.5%
Eknath Shinde – 8.5%
Supriya Sule – 8.5%
Ashok Chavan – 6.6%
Balasaheb Thorat – 4.2%
Jayant Patil – 3.6%
Additionally, the survey revealed that 47.9% of voters would choose the same party for both Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls, while 27.3% would vote differently for state and central elections. When asked about their preferred party in such a scenario, 65% of voters supported the BJP, while 19% indicated they would not vote for the BJP. The remaining 16% were undecided.
People's view on NCP and splits in general
Opinions on various issues were also collected, with 43.6% of respondents agreeing with Sharad Pawar's stance, 23.1% supporting Ajit Pawar, and 33.3% remaining undecided. Results varied among party lines, with NCP voters primarily supporting Sharad Pawar, while BJP voters leaned towards Ajit Pawar.
The majority of respondents (80.9%) opposed the formation of separate groups within parties to join the ruling party. Moreover, 38.7% of respondents felt that leaders who switch sides after elections should resign and contest polls again, while 30.1% believed that such leaders should be permanently barred from elections.
Big red signal for Shinde Sena
Among those who felt the Shiv Sena should rule the state again, 39% believed that MLAs from the Shinde group should resign and contest again, while 33% thought they should be permanently barred from elections. Only 12% of voters supported the decision of these leaders.
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