Economy tops voters' concerns ahead of Indian polls
17 Feb 2009 19:09:00 GMT Source: Reuters
By Matthias Williams NEW DELHI, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The economy is the biggest concern for Indian voters ahead of a parliamentary election expected in April and May, according to a nationwide poll released on Tuesday. The poll, carried out by the CNN-IBN news channel and the Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), said 32 percent cited the economy and inflation as their biggest concern as India feels the impact of the global economic downturn. Forty-four percent said they were finding it harder to meet household expenses compared to six months ago, partly because of higher prices, of which the urban poor were worst hit. The Indian economy, which enjoyed a growth rate of around 9 percent in each of the last three years, is set to slow to around 7 percent in 2009. And reflecting the thousands of jobs lost in the export sector since the global financial crisis hit, unemployment was the most important factor for 18 percent of those polled. National security, which has dominated the media since last November's Mumbai attacks which killed 179 people, was the most important issue for 21 percent of those polled. But in a huge country with high illiteracy and strong regional identities, 28 percent of those sampled said they had not heard of the Mumbai attacks. The poll, of 20,000 people in 400 out of 543 parliamentary constituencies, gave no breakdown of voters' intentions between the ruling Congress party and the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A BJP-led government was voted out in the last election in 2004. But some 45 percent of those polled said the Congress-led coalition government should be given another chance, against 30 percent who said it should be voted out. That compared to the results of a similar poll held before the 2004 election when 48 percent had told CNN-IBN they wanted to keep the government in power. But Vinay Tewari, the executive editor of the news channel who was involved in conducting the survey, told Reuters a lot could change by the time of the election. "Usually if you do a poll two months before the elections, people tend to rate the government a little higher," he said. Just 26 percent said the government dealt well with the Mumbai attacks, 22 percent said it did not do enough and 4 percent said it acted badly under pressure. But in a sign that the BJP may not be able to capitalise on accusations the government had shown weakness, only 37 percent of those who said the government did not do enough said they would vote for a BJP-led government. And Hindu nationalism, a traditional plank of the BJP's electoral platform, topped the agenda for only 1 percent of those sampled. (Editing by Myra MacDonald)
Relatives of a person suffering from Hepatitis-B cry after receiving the news of his death at a hospital in Modasa, in India's western Gujarat state February17, 2009. The disease has spread ...
