US fact-tank "finds" two-thirds support BJP, yet 65% satisfied with personal economic situation

By Jag Jivan
Is Narendra Modi-led BJP heading for a two-thirds majority in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls? It would seem so, if a recent survey carried out by a US-based “nonpartisan fact tank” in Washington, DC, Pew Research Center, is to be believed. Beating all opinion polls, which give BJP around 200 seats – a little over one-third of the Lok Sabha strength – Pew claims BJP has the support of 60 per cent of urban and 64 per cent of rural India, saying, “New poll finds Indians are disgruntled about the state of their nation, deeply worried about a range of problems facing their society and supportive of new leadership in New Delhi.”
Ironically, if Pew “non-partisan fact tank” is to be believed, the very same percentage of people “remain fairly upbeat" abut their personal economic situation today and the economic prospects for both India and the next generation. The survey results were released less than a week before the Lok Sabha polling process is to begin, amid wide-scale allegations of manipulation of opinion polls with the help of money power.
Pew says, it carried out the survey under the guidance of Princeton Survey Research Associates International making 2,464 face-to-face interviews between December 7, 2013, and January 12, 2014 “in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Odia, Marathi, Kannada and Gujarati” in 15 of the 17 most populous states, which together are home to about 91% of the adult Indian population.”

Claiming its poll fairly accurate, it says, “The margin of sampling error is ±3.8 percentage points. For the results based on the full sample, one can say with 95 per cent confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus the margin of error."
Pew researcher Bruce Stokes comments, “Rural Indians prefer the BJP, despite Congress’ long ties to the rural poor. The Congress party has long drawn much of its support from rural Indians and has pursued policies to solidify that backing, such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the National Food Security programme, both of which Indians overwhelmingly favour."
He adds, "Nevertheless, rural Indians favour the BJP, not Congress, to lead the next government by more than three-to-one (64 per cent to 18 per cent), roughly the same proportion as favor the BJP in urban areas.”
The researcher says, “Young Indians think the BJP is best suited to deal with India’s problems. By roughly three-to-one Indians ages 18 to 29 say the BJP will do a better job combating corruption, creating jobs, curbing inflation, reducing terrorism, helping the poor and ending political gridlock. Indians despair about their nation’s direction but they still have hope for the economy. By more than two-to-one Indians think India is headed in the wrong direction.”
At the same time, the Pew researcher believes, “But a majority (57 per cent) says the economy is good, despite slow growth. Six-in-ten (62 per cent) expect the economy to improve in the next 12 months. And 64 per cent think today’s children will be better off as adults than the current generation.” Pew adds, “just 10 per cent say it is very good and 47 per cent see it as good. Women (61 per cent) are somewhat more satisfied than men (53 per cent).”

It adds, “This positive assessment comes despite a recent government estimate that economic growth in the fiscal year ending in March 2014 would be just 4.9 per cent, up only slightly from expansion of just 4.5 per cent in the previous year. Indians in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are the most dissatisfied with current economic conditions: 60 per cent of them say the national economic situation is bad.” Pew doesn’t explain this contradiction.
Despite such a good outlook, Pew “finds” seven-in-ten Indians are “dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country; only three-in-ten (29 per cent) are satisfied. This discontent is shared by young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural Indians in almost equal measure: men (72 per cent) and women (67 per cent); Indians ages 18 to 29 (72 per cent) and those 50 years of age and older (69 per cent); those with a primary school education or less (67 per cent) and Indians with at least some college education (75 per cent); and people living in urban areas (72 per cent) as well as Indians in rural areas (68 per cent).”

Comments

Unknown said…

In opinion polls and surveys conducted by think-tanks and marketing agencies, BJP always does better than congress. However, the actual outcomes have generally been different.

April 03, 2014

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Kolkata dialogue flags policy and finance deficit in wetland sustainability

By A Representative Wetlands were the focus of India–Germany climate talks in Kolkata, where experts from government, business, and civil society stressed both their ecological importance and the urgent need for stronger conservation frameworks.

Beyond Lata: How Asha Bhosle redefined the female voice with her underrated versatility

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The news of iconic Asha Bhosle’s ‘untimely’ demise has shocked music lovers across the country. Asha Tai was 92 years young. Normally, people celebrate a passing at this age, but Asha Bhosle—much like another legend, Dev Anand—never made us feel she was growing old. She was perhaps the most versatile artist in Bombay cinema. Hailing from a family devoted to music, Asha’s journey to success and fame was not easy. Her elder sister, Lata Mangeshkar, had already become the voice of women in cinema, and most contemporaries like Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, and Noor Jehan had slowly faded into oblivion. Frankly, there was no second or third to Lata Mangeshkar; she became the first—and perhaps the only—choice for music directors and all those who mattered in filmmaking. Asha started her musical journey at age 10 with a Marathi film, but her first break in Hindustani cinema came with the film "Chunariya" (1948). Though she was not the first choice of ...

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

Maoist activity in India: Weakening structures, 'shifts' in leadership, strategy and ideology

By Harsh Thakor* Recent statements by government representatives have suggested that Maoism in India has been effectively eliminated, citing the weakening of central leadership and intensified security operations. These claims follow sustained counterinsurgency efforts across key regions, including central and eastern India. However, available information from security agencies and independent observers indicates that while the organizational structure of the CPI (Maoist) has been significantly disrupted, elements of the movement remain active. Reports acknowledge the continued presence of cadres in certain forested regions such as Bastar and parts of Dandakaranya, alongside smaller, decentralized units adapting their operational strategies.

46% own nothing, 1% own 18%: The truth about India’s land inequality

By Vikas Meshram * “Agriculture is the backbone of India” — this is what we have been hearing for generations. But there is a pain hollowing out this backbone from within: the unequal distribution of land. On one hand, news of farmer suicides, indebtedness, and rural migration keeps coming; on the other, agricultural land across the country continues to concentrate in the hands of a few wealthy individuals.

From Manesar to Noida: Workers take to streets for bread, media looks away

By Sunil Kumar* Across several states in India, a workers’ movement is gathering momentum. This is not a movement born of luxury or ambition, nor a demand for power-sharing within the state. At its core lies a stark and basic plea: the right to survive with dignity—adequate food, and wages sufficient to afford it.

US study links ultra-processed diets to preterm birth, sparks concern in India

By Jag Jivan A growing body of scientific evidence linking ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption during pregnancy to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes has sparked fresh concern among public health experts, with Indian nutrition advocates warning of serious implications for the country’s already strained maternal health landscape.

Midnight weeping: The sociology of tragic vision in Badri Narayan’s poetry

By Ravi Ranjan* Badri Narayan, a distinguished Hindi poet and social scientist, occupies a unique position in contemporary Indian intellectual life by bridging the worlds of creative literature and critical social inquiry. His poetic journey began significantly with the 1993 collection 'Saca Sune Hue Kaï Dina Hue' (Truth Heard Many Days Ago). As a social historian and cultural anthropologist, Narayan pioneered a methodological shift away from elite archives toward the oral traditions and folk myths of marginalized communities. He eventually legitimized "folk-ethnography" as a rigorous academic discipline during his tenure as Director of the G.B. Pant Social Science Institute.

Search This Blog