ALMOST 70 per cent of the voters in Chennai
think AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha's decision to
withdraw support to the A B Vajpayee
government is wrong and want the BJP-led
coalition government to continue, according to
an opinion poll conducted by the DD-II news programme Aaj Tak.
A majority of the respondents also rejected a
Congress-led government or a Third Front-led
alternative in the event of Mr Vajpayee
failing to secure the trust vote, and
indicated their preference for fresh elections
to end the political uncertainty.
The overall national picture, as brought out
by the survey, was no different. Around 71 per
cent of the respondents in the seven cities
covered by the survey rejected Ms
Jayalalitha's action of pulling the plug on
the Vajpayee government, with 68 per cent
favouring its continuation.
As for the alternatives in case the government
was voted out in the Lok Sabha tomorrow, an
overwhelming 49 per cent respondents endorsed
fresh elections. Around 36 per cent wanted a
Congress government, of which 18 were in
favour of the party leading the coalition and
an equal number favouring a minority Congress
government with the outside support of other
parties. Only 9 per cent wanted a Third
Front-led government. The rest were undecided.
The survey - conducted for Aaj Tak by Taylor
Nelson Sofres Mode - covered Delhi, Mumbai,
Chennai, Calcutta, Patna, Lucknow and
Ahmedabad. As many as 747 adult respondents,
at least 100 in every city, were asked three questions:
nWas Jayalalitha's withdrawal of support to
the Vajpayee government right or wrong?
* Do you think the Vajpayee-led BJP government
should stay?
* If the Vajpayee government were to lose the
vote of confidence in Parliament tomorrow,
what alternative would you prefer?
As for the break-up for the six cities other
than Chennai, around 56 per cent in Delhi felt
Ms Jayalalitha was wrong in withdrawing
support; 75 per cent in Mumbai, 68 per cent in
Calcutta, 80 per cent in Ahmedabad, 79 per
cent in Patna and 69 per cent in Lucknow.
Nearly 53 per cent of the respondents in Delhi
wanted the government to stay; 70 per cent in
Mumbai, 67 per cent in Calcutta.