Price rise the biggest issue in Himachal: Survey

Who’s better when it comes to governance - BJP’s Prem Singh Dhumal or Congress’s Virbhadra Singh? The electorate in the hill state Himachal Pradesh will make the crucial choice when they vote next week. However, as a survey conducted by CNN-IBN and the Week suggests, they find no great difference between the two though Dhumal comes a notch higher in their estimation.

Both come on a par on the criteria of tackling price rise and ensuring welfare of all communities Dhumal scores marginally better on the areas of tackling corruption and good governance. The mood of despondency among the voters was overwhelming on corruption as well as price rise. According to the survey, a significant 24 of respondents felt neither of them was good at tackling corruption and 33 percent felt none was efficient at handling price rise.

The survey, with a sample size of 2014, was conducted across 119 polling stations in 30 assembly segments in Himachal Pradesh between 14 October and 21 October. The participants included a cross section of population, a majority of whom comprised urban voters, women, SCs and STs.

The Congress will have its back to the wall on the issue of price rise. A whopping 44 percent of respondents said it was the most important election issue. As many as 38 per cent of the respondents said the Congress-led central government was responsible for price rise while only 12 per cent blamed the state for it. Interestingly, 31 per cent said both were responsible for the situation. The Congress is certain to face the voters’ anger over the issue. [See table here>

As many as 50 per cent are satisfied with the performance of Manmohan Singh as the country’s prime minister while the appreciation for the performance of Dhumal is much more - 63 per cent. But the BJP would be worried about the perception of it being corrupt. As many as 74 per cent said it has increased in the state in the last five years. Also, as many as 44 per cent feel the condition of farmers have worsened in the state during Dhumal’s rule.

Not many farmers are aware of the raging debate over FDI in multi-brand retail. A whopping 76 per cent of the farmers were not aware of it while 57 per cent of those aware said it was against their interests.