Why Cong has upper hand in K'taka | Survey Methodology

The Congress appears to be leading the race to form the next government in Karnataka having managed an early edge ahead of the three-round polling for the state Assembly elections, an exclusive CNN-IBN-Deccan Herald opinion poll conducted by CSDS has suggested.
The poll finds the current mood of the Karnataka electorate favours Congress with the party expected to win 114 seats in the 224-seat Assembly, giving it a slender, but a clear majority. This means a gain of 49 seats for the Congress over the last elections held in 2004.
Karnataka voters were also asked who was there preferred chief ministerial candidate. The poll also tracked which way was the wind blowing in urban and rural Karnataka and across the six regions of the state. The issue of spiraling prices and will it affect the Congress's chances was also raised.
To discuss the findings of the poll CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai was joined by Yogendra Yadav, Political Analyst, CSDS; Diptosh Majumdar, CNN-IBN National Affairs Editor and Rajeeva L Karandikar, Executive Vice-President, Cranes Software.
Congress leader SM Krishna, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ananth Kumar and MC Nanaiah of the Janata Dal (Secular) also joined the debate.
Yogendra Yadav set the ball rolling by clarifying that the opinion poll was a fairly comprehensive one.
"For a pre-election survey it is a very comprehensive one. It was conducted in 75 constituencies, which is every third constituency of the newly drawn boundaries. We have gone to 300 villages and urban centers and interviewed more than 5000 people. This is fairly comprehensive and completely representative of Karnataka," Yogendra claimed.
Diptosh Majumdar said the Karnataka elections would be fairly significant in the national context.
"The main poll issues being raised by the Opposition are terror and price rise. BJP is raising these issue and we will soon know if these will have bearing on the other elections that are coming up or not," Diptosh said.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com

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