New Delhi, 21 May, 2012

A CNN-IBN Opinion Poll conducted across eight urban centres – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bangalore and Hyderabad – showed that even as the Manmohan Singh-led UPA is losing its credibility in urban areas, Narendra Modi stands head and shoulders above his rivals with voters when it comes to leadership of the BJP and the NDA.

The survey, conducted from 8-10 May with a sample size of 2,033, shows that Modi is the overwhelming urban choice as NDA-BJP leader with 39 percent seeing him as prime ministerial material. LK Advani comes next with 17 percent. The rest have preferences in single-digits.

Interestingly, barring Kolkata, Modi is No 1 choice is all cities, with Ahmedabad (not surprisingly) leading the pack with 76 percent preferring him, followed by Lucknow (which is surprising) giving him 60 percent. This suggests that Modi may be key to reviving the BJP’s fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, too.

The interesting point is that Nitish Kumar, who is widely seen as a possible prime minister in case the regional allies of the NDA fare better than the BJP itself, gets just 5 percent. He is more a media creation than anything else.

A majority of the respondents in the CNN-IBN survey (49 per cent) did not favor another term for the UPA II. When asked who would be the most ideal candidate from the opposition alliance, NDA, to be India’s next PM, 39 per cent of the respondents preferred Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

An overwhelming 66 per cent of India’s urban population thinks the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government has lost its credibility to govern. Also, more than half of the respondents (59 per cent) expressed dissatisfaction with the current government.

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