Support for BJP reaches fever pitch; INDIA alliance has few takers: Survey

livemint.com:

YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey held in December 2023. This is the highest support level the BJP has ever recorded in this survey since 2019, jumping from 39% in the previous round in mid-2023. The Opposition’s challenge seems to have fizzled out even before the race started.

The Congress remains a distant second, with its support base hovering around 11%. The Aam Aadmi Party’s national footprint, which had become visible in the survey after its victory in the Punjab elections in early 2022, is fading out. The BJP’s gains, in that sense, are largely a result of a shrinking support base for other parties.

The prevalence of those who do not identify with any party at all is also declining. The online survey had 12,544 respondents across over 200 cities and towns. Around 44% of the respondents were born after 1996, and 40% were born between 1981 and 1996.

Mint conducts the survey in association with survey partner YouGov India and Delhi-based think-tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR), aiming to examine the aspirations, anxieties and attitudes of India’s digital natives. The support for the BJP showed an upward trend across groups, most notably in the lower socio-economic strata, such as those from historically subjugated castes, low-income families, and non-metro cities. This indicates a broadening of the party's social base.

The BJP gained around 10 percentage points among some of these groups: the support level increased from 30% to 40% among those from the scheduled castes, from 26% to 36% among those from scheduled tribes, and from 44% to 54% among those living in Tier-II cities. Among men, the support crossed the halfway mark to reach 52% from 42% earlier, while among women, it increased from 36% to 42%. Among