New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS): Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee remains the first choice of people to lead West Bengal, while BCCI chief and former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, who is yet to announce his entry into politics, is placed at number three, as per the IANS C-Voter Battle for the States survey.

The survey, which included over 18,000 respondents covering all the 294 Assembly constituencies in the state, said that 48.8 per cent of people see Banerjee as the most suitable candidate for the Chief Minister's post, followed by West Bengal BJP chief DIlip Ghosh at 18.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, Ganguly is placed at number three for the top post in the state, with 13.4 per cent respondents seeing him as the most suitable CM candidate.

The Assembly polls for the 294-member House is scheduled later this year, with the ruling Trinamool and the BJP indulging in a bitter contest.

The survey said that Mukul Roy, who had jumped ship from the Trinamool to the BJP, is way behind Banerjee in the race for the Chief Minister's post as only 6.9 per cent people see him as the most suitable candidate for the top post.

Similarly, 4.1 per cent of respondents see Sujon Chakarborty of the CPI-M as the most suitable candidate for the Chief Minister's post, followed by Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. According to the survey, 2.5 per cent see Chowdhury as the most suitable CM candidate.

The survey said that 2.1 per cent see Suvendu Adhikari, who had switched to the BJP from the Trinamool last month, as the most suitable CM candidate, while only 1.3 per cent see BJP MP from Asansol Babul Supriyo as the suitable candidate for the top post.

The survey said that 2.3 per cent see others as the suitable candidate for the Chief Minister's post.