AN ORG-The Pioneer nationwide survey to evaluate Nitin Gadkari’s performance as BJP president on his completing one year in office shows that an overwhelming number of respondents feels he is most suited to be appointed the party chief. The respondents also reposed faith in his performance and viewed that under his leadership, the BJP was set to improve its seat tally in the forthcoming elections.
The most important find of the survey was that 75.15 per cent of the respondents said Gadkari was the best person to be appointed the BJP president whereas 20.38 per cent felt he was not fit for the role. In Gadkari’s own State Maharashtra and the politically important Uttar Pradesh, the number backing his appointment as the party chief was much higher.
Similarly, about 42 per cent respondents were satisfied with Gadkari’s performance and only 17 per cent were not impressed with him on this front. About 40.60 per cent did not respond. The highest approval rating for Gadkari came from the BJP-ruled Karnatka, followed by eastern States. The lowest approval rating was in UP.
The survey said that under Gadkari’s leadership, the BJP may improve its seat tally in forthcoming elections. This was the response of 70 per cent respondents, whereas 10 per cent did not feel so and 21 per cent did not respond either way.
Of the respondents, 74 per cent felt Gadkari should continue as BJP president while 21 per cent felt otherwise. The other 4.67 per cent did not express any opinion on this.
“Highest support for Gadkari’s continuation was recorded in Karnataka (above 90 per cent), followed closely by Maharashtra. Out of the remaining six States, the rating fell below 60 per cent only in Assam,” the survey results showed.
The survey revealed that 82 per cent of the respondents were aware of Gadkari’s political contribution since he became the party president a year ago. Similarly, about 73 per cent were aware of his contribution to the society. “The rest were not aware about the contribution of Gadkari, possibly because his erstwhile limited exposure at the national level,” the survey stated.
The survey covered 2,143 respondents in eight cities based on income groups and occupational samplings. The cites were Guwahati, Patna, Delhi, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Nagpur, Lucknow and Kolkata. In case of income-based samplings, the respondents were divided into four groups: Those earning Rs 5,000, Rs 5001-10,000, Rs 10,001-25,000 and Rs 25,000 and above.
Under occupational samplings head, the respondents came from service sector (Government and private sector employees), self-employed, businessmen, students and others.
The male-female respondent ratio was attempted to be 50:50 in all States and most respondents were in the 18-59 age group. About 79 per cent respondents came from the Hindu community and 21 from Muslim and others. Of the respondents, 45.34 per cent belonged to ‘graduate and above’ category and 26.21 per cent had education up to the secondary level. The remaining (nearly 29 per cent) were educated up to primary level or less.
In the survey, conducted during the Bihar elections, Gadkari emerged as an able administrator and skilled negotiator. The respondents felt that Gadkari’s talents were displayed in the Bihar Assembly polls, where the party bagged an all-time high number of seats. Gadkari played a key role in sorting out issues with ally Janata Dal(U), which was opposed to Narendra Modi campaigning in the State. The party president also brought the State unit’s rival factions together and amicably resolved differences on candidate selection.
“The Bihar election happened to be his first big test in north India and he has passed with flying colours. This low-profile and nationally relatively less known person, without proven mass appeal, is set to rejuvenate and galvanise the BJP by dint of hard work and capabilities,” the survey added. (FOC)
