New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still the best prime ministerial candidate in the five states going to the polls in next year -- Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur -- as per the ABP-CVOTER-IANS BATTLE FOR THE STATES - WAVE 1.
As per the survey, Modi has maintained his popularity graph and is way ahead of prominent leaders like Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
At pan-India level, 41 per cent of the respondents prefer Modi, while 11.3 per cent chose Rahul Gandhi as the best PM candidate.
Among others, 7.5 per cent voters have chosen Kejriwal as their PM candidate, followed by Manmohan Singh and Yogi Adiyanath at 5.2 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively.
In Goa, 48.5 per cent voters prefer Modi, followed by 46.5 per cent in Uttarakhand, 41.5 per cent in Manipur, 40.7 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, and 12.4 per cent in Punjab as the best PM candidate, the survey revealed.
A total of 22.2 per cent voters in Goa feel that Kejriwal is the best PM candidate, while 20.7 per cent opted for Rahul Gandhi. Manmohan Singh and Adityanath have marginal support of 5.2 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively.
Similarly, in Manipur, 41.5 per cent voters prefer Modi as the best PM candidate, followed by Kejriwal at 14.1 per cent while only 7.9 per cent voters have favoured Rahul Gandhi. Manmohan Singh and Adityanath have the support of 6.1 per cent and 0.9 per cent respondents, respectively.
In Punjab, 23.4 per cent prefer Kejriwal as the best PM candidate, followed by Manmohan Singh (15.7 per cent), Modi (12.4 per cent) and Rahul Gandhi (4.9 per cent).
In Uttar Pradesh, Modi is again popular as the best PM candidate with 40.7 per cent voters preferring him, followed by Rahul Gandhi (8 per cent), Kejriwal (5.1 per cent), Manmohan Singh (4.6 per cent) and Adityanath (4.2 per cent).
In Uttarakhand too, Modi is ahead with 46.5 per cent support, followed by Kejriwal (14.9 per cent), Rahul Gandhi (10.4 per cent), Adiyanath (7.5 per cent) and Manmohan Singh (5.4 per cent).
The sample size for the survey was 81,006 in five states covering 690 Assembly seats. This state poll is part of the largest and definitive independent sample survey tracker series carried out in India over the last 22 years, conducted by independent international polling agency CVoter.