Lok Sabha Election 2024: PM Modi enjoys massive lead in mega nationwide survey

India is preparing for the largest democratic celebration in the world — the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission will soon announce the dates of the upcoming general elections. In the meantime, the News18 Mega Opinion Poll provides an insight into India's perceptions of the past five years and what it hopes to achieve in the upcoming electoral cycle.

Who would make the best prime minister going forward? A large number of people across the nation was asked this crucial question in a Mega Opinion Poll conducted by Network18, which included a thorough poll encompassing 518 Lok Sabha seats across 21 major states. Additionally, the incumbent, Narendra Modi, received an overwhelming majority in the vote of confidence.

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According to the opinion poll, over 118,000 respondents across all social and religious backgrounds picked Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the most trustworthy politician in the country.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, was far behind at second place with only 21% of the responses, while 59% of respondents chose PM Modi.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal, the convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) jointly took the next spot as they logged 9% votes each.

It's interesting to note that PM Modi's advantage in trust ratings held true for different social and religious groups. PM Modi's trust rating was 66% among Hindus, who made up a sizable section of the population surveyed.

Rahul Gandhi's trust scores, however, paint a different image. With the exception of one sector, he lags behind Modi in every socioeconomic and religious category.

Compared to Modi, who received support from 31% of respondents, Gandhi received comparatively more support from Christians (46%) in the survey.

Gandhi was viewed with relatively less trust by Buddhists (20%), Hindus (19%), and Muslims (Shias and Sunnis, at 25% each.

Although he was more popular with Sikhs (39%), Buddhists (45%), Jains (51%), and other Muslims (53%), he was less popular with Shia Muslims (39%), and Sunni Muslims (37%).

58% of respondents in the General category and 57% of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) indicated that they trusted PM Modi's leadership.

Among Other Backward Classes (OBC), Modi's trust ratings were significantly higher at 63%.

PM Modi's trust rating was somewhat lower than other categories among those who chose not to disclose their social category. PM Modi was trailed by Rahul Gandhi in every caste category.

It was one of the biggest surveys conducted in the nation, spanning 21 major states in India from February 12 to March 1. These states comprise 95% of all Lok Sabha constituencies. Before the next general elections, it offers a thorough analysis of voter opinion and preferences, providing insightful information about India's political environment.

Ten distinct fieldwork agencies provided skilled investigators to conduct the survey's fieldwork, and stringent quality control procedures were followed. To guarantee adherence to the sample plan and questionnaire, the teams conducted thorough briefing sessions before to heading into the field. On-site quality checks were carried out by senior field managers and executives, and each interview was geotagged to ensure its legitimacy.

1,18,616 samples in total were taken from 21 states.