Like an unwanted pregnancy, a mid-term election to the Karnataka Assembly was brought on after a chaotic coalition regime by the Congress, Janata Dal (Secular) and BJP collapsed, leading to dissolution of the House and imposition of President's rule. Accepting the inevitable, political parties and candidates are now battling it out with the poll blitz intensifying with every passing day. Security beefed up and voters scurrying for IDs, the stage is ready. A glimpse of the trends and moods gathered by Deccan Herald-CNN-IBN Pre-poll surveys and DH correspondents on the campaign trail...
Karnataka voters have been very generous in their evaluation of the legislators who represented them in the last Assembly. Possibly, when expectations are low, one tends to greatly value even small achievements.
The Deccan Herald-CNN-IBN Pre-poll survey in Karnataka tapped voters’ response to the performance of the MLAs. Respondents were asked whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with the performance of the MLA from their constituency. Based on their response they were further probed on whether they were fully or somewhat satisfied/dissatisfied.
Seventy per cent of the respondents stated that they were satisfied with their MLA’s performance. If this were to be split further, a little over one-fourth of the respondents expressed full satisfaction with the performance of their legislators.
Twenty per cent of the respondents were unhappy with the work done by their legislators. Another nine per cent were unsure as to how to respond to the question.
In three regions of the state, close to 75 per cent of the respondents were appreciative of the work done by the former MLAs. These regions include Mumbai-Karnataka, Coastal Karnataka and Southern Karnataka. In three other regions - Hyderabad Karnataka, Bangalore and Central Karnataka, the positive response was much more lukewarm.
In the Hyderabad Karnataka region the unhappiness with the local MLAs was the most intense. Nearly one fourth of the respondents in this region said that they were totally dissatisfied with the performance of their MLAs. In the case of another ten per cent of the respondents in this region, the displeasure was evident but not that intense. In Central Karnataka region too, nearly 20 per cent respondents were totally dissatisfied. In the Bangalore region nearly 15 per cent of respondents expressed strong displeasure about the performance of their immediate past MLA. In Mumbai-Karnataka and Coastal Karnataka regions, less than ten per cent of the respondents had serious reservations about the performance of the local legislators.
What explains the comparatively higher level of pessimism about legislators in the Hyderabad-Karnataka, Central Karnataka and Bangalore regions as compared to other areas? A combination of factors, possibly. These indicators may also not be uniform across these regions. There has generally been a feeling of neglect experienced by people living in the Hyderabad- Karnataka region.
Across the state, the level of pessimism was directly linked to the education level of the respondent. The more educated, the less pessimistic they were likely to be. In the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, nearly 40 per cent of the illiterate respondents were dissatisfied. The only exception to this trend is in the Bangalore region where the more educated were disenchanted.
The dissatisfaction was much higher among the Dalits, Tribals and the Muslim respondents as compared to those from the Forward and dominant castes. In the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, close to half the dalit and tribal respondents were unhappy. This could well be a backlash to the fact that a majority of MLAs in the previous Assembly belonged to the dominant castes.
