PM Modi’s governance quite popular than CM Naveen’s: Survey

Bhubaneswar: As many as 54 percent people in Odisha voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the next PM, as per the latest survey conducted by India Today.

Though CM Naveen Patnaik scored high in terms of popularity with 59 per cent of the respondents wanting him to be the CM of Odisha again, anti-incumbency wave is intensifying against the ruling dispensation in State, the survey highlighted.

Moreover, if the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are held simultaneously in Odisha, then Naveen Patnaik-led ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will have to face stiff challenge from PM Modi who is likely to be the face of BJP in the upcoming polls, the survey revealed.

As per the survey, CM Naveen, who tops in terms of popularity in Odisha, left behind several other leaders including Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who stood second with 22 percent votes followed by Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik with mere 5 percent people voting in his favour.

44 percent people in Odisha were happy over the performance of the State government, while 19 percent were dissatisfied and 39 percent respondents did not give any remarks which indicate growing resentment over the functioning of the government.

“Despite being the son of legendary leader Biju Patnaik, CM Naveen couldn’t learn or speak Odia in the last 20 years and how can he be rated as No.1 CM?" questioned expelled BJD leader, Damodar Rout.

On the other hand, 52 percent people in the State expressed their satisfaction over the performance of the Centre under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi while a mere 12 percent were dissatisfied as per the India Today survey.

As per the poll survey, BJP has reorganized the party after the last poll debacle in Odisha and is likely to give a tough competition to the ruling BJD here.

“The image of BJD in the eyes of poor people has taken a sharp beating in the recent past. Modi’s 53 percent will have greater impact than CM Naveen’s 59 percent,” said Odisha BJP’s Bhrugu Baxipatra.

While participating in a debate of India Today channel, BJD MP Pinaki Mishra had stated that the number of Lok Sabha seats won by the party might see a drop this time.

“For Parliament, we might drop by one or two seats and still get 17 or 18 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats. In Assembly, BJD has a majority of 120 out of 147 seats and our party will get about 115 to 120 while the Congress will be down to 5 from 16 seats and the BJP will get about 20 seats in Odisha,” said Mishra.

Political expert, Rabi Das on the other hand stated that if BJP could reach out to people with national issues and project them well, then the situation can change in Odisha.

As per the survey, only 21 per cent people in Odisha supported Rahul Gandhi as the next PM. However, Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik did not accept the findings of the survey.

“BJP’s national president Amit Shah had claimed to win 120 seats in Odisha. Perhaps he can answer well on how correct such findings and the arithmetic behind it are,” said Patnaik.

BJD Spokesperson Sasmit Patra on the other hand claimed that CM Naveen’s popularity is nearly 60 percent which clearly shows that people of Odisha love their leader.