63 Percent Indians Favour BJP In Polls, Says U.S. Survey

"More than six-in-ten Indians (63 percent) prefer the BJP to lead the next Indian national government. Just two-in-ten (19 percent) pick the Indian National Congress. Other parties have the support of 12 per cent of the public. BJP backing is consistent across age groups. And support is almost equal between rural (64 per cent) and urban (60 percent) Indians," the survey said.

Northern states -- Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi -- which together are home to more than 400 million people, give the BJP its highest level of support, with 74 percent saying they want it to lead the next government.

"The party's weakest backing (54 percent) is in the western states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat (led by Modi as chief minister). Congress' strongest regional support (30 percent) is in the eastern states of Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand, among India's poorest areas and home to 270 million people," Pew said.

A majority says the BJP (58 percent) is likely to be more successful than the Congress (20 percent) in creating employment opportunities in the future.

"A similar proportion of the Indian public (56 percent) say BJP would do a better job than Congress (20 percent) in reducing terrorism. There is equal belief (56 percent) that the BJP will do more to combat corruption. Only 17 percent say Congress would do a better job dealing with this issue," Pew said.

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