Cong is slipping, but no hope for BJP without Modi: Survey

But if the Congress is losing big, who’s winning big? Right now, there are no clear answers. The writing on the wall is loud and clear for the Congress: it’s on a slippery slope and it might need nothing less than a miracle to come back to power in the general elections, whenever it happens. It is the BJP, which should be the natural beneficiary by default. Curiously, nothing points that way. If the current situation in the party persists till the run-up to the elections, it might end up with a tally unimpressive enough to attract allies. [caption id=“attachment_806979” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image for representation only. AFP[/caption] According to a Headlines Today study conducted by CVoters, while the image of the Central government has taken a nosedive, BJP leadership remains in a state of paralysis. With Narendra Modi not in the picture, Sushma Swaraj could have been the ideal prime minister candidate for the party. But the rise in her ratings has not been proportionate to the decline in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s popularity. The study is based on national representative sample of 13,302 randomly selected respondents during March-May 2013 and cumulative tracking of poll data of 250000+ respondents during the last 48 months across 540 Lok Sabha segments the country. In 2012, the study says, her ratings were the best among her peers in the party. It has declined sharply after that. In fact, her ratings in 2013 stay marginally ahead of those of the central government and of senior party leader LK Advani. This could be due to her association with Advani, who’s seen to be a drag on the party. This, in general, is the reflection of the state of the party. Till June 2011, the study says, the loss of Congress votes did not translate into gains for the BJP or the NDA; however, thereafter there appears to be a shift of mood towards the NDA and non-Congress and non-BJP parties, with the latter gaining the most since 2012. The BJP, though gaining on votes, appears to be losing out to the alternative parties. However, the situation changes dramatically with the arrival Modi of at the leadership position. To a question on the best prime minister candidate from the NDA stable, a whopping 56 percent of the respondents said Modi was the most preferred. Sushma came a distant second with only 11 percent favouring. Advani was still lower with nine percent favouring him.