The campaign in the 2018 Assembly elections in Karnataka thus far had seen the ruling Congress party attempting to showcase what it would term as its good performance over the last five years, while the opposition BJP and JD(S) are drawing attention to what they perceive as the failures and inadequacies of the ruling regime.
How do citizens view the record of their government in the state? The JAIN-Lokniti-CSDS pre poll survey found that for the incumbent government, a little over one fourth of the respondents are fully satisfied with the performance of the government. Another four of every ten are somewhat satisfied with its performance.
One must concede that in the past a mere satisfaction with the government in power is no guarantee for it to come back to power. If satisfaction with government were linked to intention to vote, only those fully satisfied with the government stated that they would vote for the Congress. More than half of those who were somewhat satisfied were not keen to give a second chance to the ruling party.
When one focuses attention on specifics, the trends are clearly visible. Close to two thirds of the respondents felt that the conditions of roads and supply of electricity to their area had improved in the past five years. Close to six of every ten respondents felt that on supply of drinking water in their locality the situation was much better.
However, farmers did not demonstrate the same positive response when it came to irrigation facilities in their area. People also felt that enough had not happened to ensure religious harmony in their region. What is striking to note is that about one-thirds of respondents of Coastal Karnataka feel that religious harmony had worsened under the present government.
On three critical indicators, the respondents appeared to be displeased with the record of the government and could explain the broader trends that are emerging from the pre-poll survey. More than three fourths of the respondents felt that the prices of essential commodities had increased. One-third felt that employment opportunities in the past five years had decreased, while four out of every ten felt that there had been no change in the employment scene. Of critical significance is the perception among more than half the respondents that corruption had increased in the last five years.
The pre-poll survey indicates that the support for the Congress is much higher among the economically less privileged sections of the society as compared to the more affluent. Have the range of 'Bhagya' scheme launched by the state government contributed in any way to the continued support to the ruling party? Four in every five respondents have gained support from the Anna Bhagya scheme while close to half the respondents have family members who have benefitted from the Ksheera Bhagya scheme. Two out of every five households have profited from the Anila Bhagya Scheme, aimed at LPG Connections for BPL homes. The Krishi Bhagya scheme seems to have reached a limited number of farmer households, and the Indira Canteens (introduced only in 2017) have benefitted just one of every five respondents.
