Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government has lost credibility because of its failure to handle social activist Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption and not taking bold economic reform measures, according to a poll marking three years of the second term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The results of the poll also showed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be the most popular choice among Opposition leaders for the post of prime minister.
The CNN-IBN Opinion Poll, conducted by GfK Mode, showed 66 per cent believed Manmohan Singh’s government had lost credibility, while 59 per cent were unsatisfied with the Union government’s performance. About 58 per cent felt UPA-II would complete its entire term in office. A total of 49 per cent felt the UPA should not get another term in office.
About 21 per cent of those who participated in the survey said the biggest reason for the decline in the government’s credibility was failure to properly handle social activist Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement. Failure to take bold economic reforms was the second reason (cited by 20 per cent of respondents). Interestingly, 17 per cent believed the Union government had failed to handle scams and tackle corruption.
A total of 58 per cent felt the major reason for the decline in the UPA government’s performance in the last three years was price rise, while 49 per cent blamed felt it was the government’s inaction against corruption. About 43 per cent felt failure to take bold economic reforms was the primary reason behind people losing faith in it.
Apart from being critical about the Union government, respondents were also dissatisfied with the performance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his second term, with 41 per cent saying Singh’s performance was average, while 39 per cent described it as very poor. About 55 per cent of the survey participants wanted someone to replace Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A total of 33 per cent wanted Congress General-Secretary Rahul Gandhi to replace him, while 20 per cent wanted Finance Minister Pranab Mukhejee to do so.
A total of 31 per cent of the participants said Manmohan Singh’s biggest failure was his inability to check price rise, while 17 per cent thought he had failed to tackle corruption.
On being asked which leader from the National Democratic Alliance they thought was best suited to become Prime Minister, 39 per cent voted for Narendra Modi. Senior party leader L K Advani secured only 17 per cent, while Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, got 10 per cent. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Arun Jaitley, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, secured five per cent each. Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, who is likely to get a second term in office, got only two per cent votes for the top post.