Updated 10:12 IST | Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Please click here to view the new Beta version of Punjabnewsline
Corruption, inflation and unemployment are concerns of Punjab voters: Survey by Journalism Dept
Punjab Newsline Network
Thursday, 26 January 2012
By Gagandeep Ahuja
A survey on popular perceptions of politically non-aligned voters about the coming election and the ongoing electoral campaign conducted by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Punjabi University Patiala and its counterpart from GNDU Regional Centre, Jalandhar found that the Punjab voters are quite aware about their choice of the candidate and are no longer seem to be swayed away and taken to the polling booth by external influences like that of elders, caste and creed.
The survey released by Department Head Prof Navjit Singh Johal here today says a majority of voters to the tune of 80 per cent in the random survey favored that the candidate should be from their own constituency with overwhelming majority of 88 per cent showing their displeasure for the candidate who had left his/her parent party and acquired ticket from the other one.
And a majority of voters, around 66 per cent are for exercising their free will and prefer to change their party in each successive poll and about same per cent of electorate say they give more weightage to image, character and popularity of the candidate in the area. A larger per cent of voters, around 75 per cent have gone for the merit of the candidate which is based on the above factors besides an academic qualification which a majority of them spoke in favor of.
Around 44 per cent sought that the candidate should be qualified at least up to graduation and above. Similarly, the age of the candidate also mattered much to the electorate as above 80 per cent say the politicians should not be above 50 year of age and only 5 per cent were indifferent to the age which, according to them, could be above even 60 years. But more than half of respondents, 42 of the 80 per cent, among them are for younger politicians saying candidates should be less than 40 years of age.
The survey interviewed 900 respondents of all age, groups from 22 assembly segments spreading over districts including Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Mukatsar, Bhatinda, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Mohali-forming the major parts of Punjab. Half of the respondents are females, a mixed lot of educated professionals and housewives.
The media has an overriding influence on the electorate with more than 60 per cent getting influenced from television in choice of their candidates while the newspapers affected the choice of 20 to 30 per cent of voters. The internet social sites impacted the choice of 13.5 per cent of voters particularly in urban areas while it has a least impact up to 3 percent in semi urban and rural areas. A large majority (68 percent) formed their own opinion about the candidate whom they prefer to cast their vote on various factors including candidate's image, his/her popularity in the area, educational qualification, political affiliation and his personality projection in the media. Interestingly, the Punjab voters, as survey shows, are least influenced by the caste, creed, religion and community. Contrary to the media reports and the general perception suggest that the religion and caste considerations are bigger factors in determining allocation of party tickets and attracting the voters, as only 0.021 per cent paid attention to these highly pronounced electoral determinants.
The mainstream political parties now prefer to release their election manifestos in midst of the electioneering but a half of the electorate are least bothered about the promises made by political outfits in their promissory documents. However, about 40 per cent respondents say they attempt to make a comparative study of the manifestos of all political parties. And a small portion, around 18 per cent say they read the manifesto of the party which they want to vote for.
The electorate prefers that election campaign should be telecast or carried by the print media with a majority of respondents opposing the use of loud speaker and visual advertisements during the electioneering. An overwhelming majority of voters, 93 per cent, are in favor of usage of 'decent language' (not aggressive phrases) in the poll campaign. A tiny portion of respondents, about 7 per cent, however, seemed to relish use of vindictive, mud-slinging and accusatory language in the election campaigns.
The voters, according to survey, seemed to be influenced by the personal aura of the candidate, oratory skills and style of making his/ her point among the electorate. Around 8 per cent voters, however, have shown their interest in the dressing sense, clothing and presentation by the candidate.
A sizeable section of voters (75 per cent) do not want to make an active participation in the poll campaign while the rest prefer to become a part of the poll campaign.
The Election Commission restriction on use and distribution of intoxicants seems to have been welcomed by the electorate with a majority of voters with 76 per cent respondents expressing their open abhorrence to the distribution of drugs and liquor.
Some saucy slogans, albeit in Punjabi folk, are liked by the electorate like'' kise hath khunda kise hath talwar par sade hath punjabiyan da pyar.", " ghar aye jo gadaar maaro jutiyan kadho bahar, votan vele bapu kahinde mudke saadi saar nah lainde". Some seemingly well-informed respondents vociferously supported the election code and suggested that the candidate should be well-versed with the real meaning of Indian constitution. While some others spoke in favor of a better deal for farmers and job creation for the educated youth.
Add Comment
