New Delhi : Voters in Kerala appeared to be ambivalent when it came to rating the performance of their elected representatives. In contrast to other states, residents of Kerala have rated their MPs and MLAs higher than the state government when it comes to performance.
This was revealed during a survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS to mark one year of Assembly elections that were held in four states and one union territory in 2021. Breaking a five decade old norm when incumbent governments were routinely thrown out every five years, the Left Front led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had not only retained power in 2021 but also won a bigger mandate.
According to the survey, more than 32 per cent of the respondents were very satisfied with the performance of the state government, while another 41 per cent were somewhat satisfied with the performance. The survey also indicates that 26 per cent of the respondents were not satisfied at all. As for the performance of Chief Minister, while 42 per cent of the respondents said that they were very much satisfied with Vijayan’s performance, more than 30 per cent said that they were somewhat satisfied.
At the same time, 26 per cent expressed dissatisfaction with Vijayan’s performance. The survey also revealed that Opposition leader in the state has also not lost connect with the people. During the survey, while 21 per cent of the respondents said that they were very much satisfied with the performance of Opposition leader, more than 39 per cent said that they were somewhat satisfied. So, in effect, 60 per cent of the respondents expressed satisfaction with the performance of opposition leader. In contrast, 23 per cent expressed dissatisfaction.
In most other states where the survey was conducted, the performance of MPs and MLAs were not rated in a favourable manner. But they seem to have done very well in Kerala. According to the survey, 39 per cent of the respondents were very satisfied with the performance of their MP, while another 31 per cent of the respondents said that they were somewhat satisfied. Just about 18 per cent of the respondents were not satisfied at all with the performance of their MP. Similarly, 45 per cent of the respondents stated they were very satisfied with the performance of their local MLA, while another 31 per cent were somewhat satisfied. Less than 16 per cent of the respondents said they were not satisfied at all.
Interestingly, during the survey in Kerala, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has scored good approval ratings for his performance as head of the Union government, more no of people said they would prefer to see Congress leader Rahul Gandhi occupying country’s top post in future. As per the survey data, while almost 34 per cent of the respondents in Kerala said that they were very much satisfied with the performance of Prime Minister, close to 35 per cent said they were satisfied to some extent. So, in effect, 69 per cent of those interviewed during the survey expressed satisfaction with Modi’s work. At the same time 30 per cent of the respondents said they were not at all satisfied with Modi’s performance. At the same time, when asked about the more suitable candidate between Modi and Rahul Gandhi to hold the post of Prime Minister in future, close to 50 per cent of the respondents in Kerala opined in favour of Gandhi scion and almost 36 per cent replied in favour in incumbent Prime Minister.
In Kerala, the survey data suggests that while rising prices is the top concern for the voters in the state, the issue of ethnic and religious conflict is the second most important problem for them, surprisingly, it is a bigger problem than unemployment. During the survey, more than 37 per cent of the respondents said that rising prices is their biggest worry, more than 14 per cent stated that the issue ethnic and religious conflicts is their main concern. Close to 10 per cent appeared to be worried about joblessness in the southern state.
During the survey, people in ‘God’s Own Country’ sounded confused about future. While 31 per cent of the respondents said they are confident that their living standard will improve in future, almost same number of those interviewed during the survey, 32 per cent sounded pessimistic and said that they believe that things will deteriorate in future.
–IANS
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