JOIN US Forty-two per cent of urban Indians are undecided on whom to vote for, but 94 per cent are sure they would vote in the coming Lok Sabha election, according to a Google India survey of urban voters.
The Urban India Voters Study, released on Tuesday, also said 85 per cent of urban Indians, who are internet users, have voted earlier. The survey covers 65 constituencies and 7,042 respondents.
A separate Google analysis said Narendra Modi is the most-searched person in India, followed by Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Among parties, the BJP is at the top, followed by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party. The survey said urban Indian voters gave both party and candidate equal weightage in terms of influence on their voting decisions, with 35 per cent saying their vote is determined on the basis of the party and 36 per cent on the basis of the candidate.
Though much has been made of Modi being the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, only 11 per cent of the respondents said the prime ministerial candidate of a party would play an important role in their final voting decision.
Urban Indians also perceive politicians with internet visibility as progressive, it said. The survey said voters were not satisfied with the information about candidates on the internet, and feel that they will be more empowered to take decisions about candidates whose information is easily available online.
Fifty-six per cent of the respondents said they would like to actively engage with politicians online, and politicians should allow citizens to comment online and also respond to their comments on social media platforms.
The survey said 65 per cent of the respondents said they would share their political views online. Five per cent said they do share, but anonymously.
Another interesting observation of the survey was that 39 per cent would like to volunteer for party work.