Punjab Opinion Poll: Narendra Modi is first choice for PM in state, Rahul Gandhi comes second

With Lok Sabha elections just weeks away, News Nation has conducted an opinion poll to gauge the mood of voters in the state of Punjab. Through #NNOpinionPoll, when we asked 'who is the first choice for Prime Minister', 38 per cent of the people said Narendra Modi whereas Congress president Rahul Gandhi is at the second position with 30 per cent votes. These figures are somewhat similar to the opinion poll conducted by News Nation in Jammu and Kashmir where 37 per cent people voted for PM Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi got 30 per cent.

When asked 'which party/alliance do you think can address your issues', people said that both the Congress and BJP-SAD alliance are capable of taking care of their issues with both getting 34 per cent votes. Whereas, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got 13 per cent vote share. According to the poll, the BJP-SAD alliance seems to be making a strong comeback in the state after facing 2017 Assembly elections debacle. 

The News Nation opinion poll has predicted that both Congress and SAD-BJP alliance may get 32 per cent vote share in the Lok Sabha elections and Arvind Kejirwal's AAP can get 19 per cent vote share.

In 2017 Assembly elections the Congress had won 77 seats in the 117-member strong Assembly. The SAD-BJP combine was relegated to the third position after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP had won 20 seats whereas the SAD managed to win 15 seats. Its alliance partner BJP was reduced to 3 seats. However, in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP alliance had won 6 seats in Punjab (SAD: 4 and BJP: 2). The AAP had made a stunning debut in these elections by winning four seats. The Congress had just managed to win three seats. However, the News Nation opinion poll predicted that SAD-BJP alliance is likely to win 5 seats and Congress can win 6 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The AAP also seems to be winning one seat. 

When asked about 'what would be the main issue for 2019 Lok Sabha elections'. The people of the state were of the view that employment will be the most important (with 27 per cent vote share) thing that they will keep in mind while exercising their franchise. The other issues will be inflation (16 per cent), corruption (9 per cent), GST-Demonetisation (16 per cent) and drug abuse (7 per cent).

ALSO READ: News Nation Opinion Poll: Narendra Modi remains the top choice for PM in Jammu and Kashmir

The other important question was whether the people are satisfied with the work of the Congress government in the state. While replying to this, 50 per cent of them said they are not and 38 per cent said they are satisfied. Similarly, 53 per cent of people are not happy with the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and only 33 per cent feels that it is doing a good job. 

Is Modi government giving a befitting reply to China and Pakistan? On this question, 32 per cent people said 'Yes' while 49 per cent said 'No'. 48 per cent people said that the Narendra Modi-led government's prime focus is politics and 33 per cent said the government is focused on the development.