New Delhi: With the announcement of election dates in Bihar, the battlelines are also clearly drawn, and parties are vying to woo the electorate with lofty promises. However, the biggest issues weighing heavily on the minds of voters are unemployment and corruption and to some extent – the state’s poor education model.
According to the IANS-Matrize Survey, corruption and unemployment are the biggest issues in the Bihar elections, followed by inflation and law and order.
The Opinion Poll further shows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also remains a deciding factor in shaping public opinion and deciding voters’ choice in the impending elections, with 9 per cent respondents saying that it will be a key factor when people cast their ballot.
According to the IANS-Matrize Survey, 24 per cent of people believe that unemployment is the biggest issue in the Bihar elections, 10 per cent believe that corruption is the most important factor, while only 3 per cent think that liquor ban is an issue in the Assembly elections.
About 5 per cent of respondents said that law and order will decide the poll outcome, while 7 per cent see rising prices/inflation as the key polling issue.
Two per cent of respondents considered poor healthcare, 8 per cent considered the education system, and 4 per cent considered agriculture and farming as key issues for voting. Only 1 per cent considered floods, 4 per cent considered migration, 2 per cent considered state development, and 3 per cent viewed liquor prohibition as the key election issue.
The IANS-Matrize survey also gathered public opinion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted in Bihar. About 54 per cent of respondents praised the Election Commission’s initiative, while 17 per cent considered it necessary. Thirteen per cent said that it was done to give an electoral advantage to the ruling alliance, while 16 per cent didn’t elicit any opinion.
Earlier, the Election Commission announced the dates for the Bihar Assembly elections. Polling for Bihar’s 243 seats will be held in two phases – in the first phase, 121 seats will go to polls on November 6, while the second phase will see voting on 122 seats on November 11. The election results will be declared on November 14.
According to the IANS-Matrize survey, the NDA alliance is set to form the government in Bihar. The NDA is projected to win 150-160 seats out of 243, while the Mahagathbandhan alliance is projected to win 70 to 85 seats.
