Wrestlers protest: More than majority of supporters of Modi’s BJP trust protesters, finds snap poll

According to the poll, 47.6 per cent of the surveyed said it would harm the saffron party “very much”, while 17.6 per cent said it would harm the party “to some extent”.

• Shubham
• 06 June, 2023

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By: Shubham Ghosh

In what would give a major boost to the protesting wrestlers, a snap poll has found that more than 54 per cent of the voters of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), India’s ruling alliance led by prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), trust the athletes over their protest against the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on charges of sexually harassing some of their women colleagues, including a minor.

Only 25.8 per cent said they believed the accused, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is also a BJP parliamentarian from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. More than 20 per cent were without any opinion.

The poll conducted by CVoter, a Delhi-based polling agency, also said that 66.5 per cent of the people it surveyed said that the protesters, who include some of India’s top wrestlers who have even won Olympic medals, were telling the truth. Only 17.3 per cent said they believed the WFI chief. Just over 16 per cent didn’t have any opinion.

When seen in terms of opposition voters, the poll showed more than 74 per cent of the surveyed backed the wrestlers while only 11.6 per cent were with Singh and 13.6 per cent without any opinion.

Will wrestler protest controversy harm Modi’s BJP?

On the question whether the controversy will harm Modi’s BJP, 47.6 per cent of the surveyed said it would harm the saffron party “very much”, while 17.6 per cent said it would harm the party “to some extent” and 22.5 per cent said no harm will be caused.

Among the NDA supporters, 33.2 per cent said the controversy would harm the BJP very much while 33.5 per cent felt it would not.

The BJP-led NDA would seek its third consecutive term in the general elections next year.

A high percentage of people, irrespective of the NDA, opposition or people in general, felt Modi should intervene in the dispute.

While 57.5 per cent of the NDA voters felt the prime minister should intervene, it was 75.7 per cent in case of opposition and 68.3 per cent for the respondents overall.

More than 40 per cent were “completely dissatisfied” with the action taken by the Delhi Police in the controversy while only 18.6 per cent were “somewhat satisfied”.