Lotus is top choice for Delhi - India Today Survey

Nearly half of Delhi's residents want fresh polls to be held in the national capital and 50 per cent say they would vote for the BJP to form government, according to a new survey by India Today Group-Hansa.

If Delhi were to go to the polls today, the BJP would be a favorite as 50 per cent said they would vote for the party that came to power at the Centre in the Lok Sabha elections. However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which formed a shortlived 49-day government in Delhi, was not far behind as 41 per cent said that they would vote for it.

Only four per cent said they would vote for the Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years under the leadership of Sheila Dikshit.

Forty-seven per cent of the respondents in the survey conducted on September 10 said there should be fresh elections in Delhi, which has been under the Lieutenant Governor's rule since AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal resigned as the Chief Minister on February 14. The Delhi Assembly was placed in suspended animation and political parties have not been able to form government since then.

Only 34 per cent did not back fresh polls in the national capital. Forty-two per cent of respondents said Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung should call the BJP to form government while an overwhelming 56 per cent said he should not ask the AAP to form government.

The BJP currently has 28 members in the 70-member Delhi Assembly and enjoys the support of one member of the Shiromani Akali Dal. The AAP has 28 legislators while the Congress has eight members.

AAP formed government with the backing of the Congress last year after the party's anti-graft campaign generated a groundswell of support. Kejriwal quit after claiming that other parties were stymieing the Delhi Jan Lokpal bill, a proposed anti-corruption legislation. Kejriwal and the AAP were widely criticized by the people for the decision to resign. Seventy-four per cent of the respondents said they believed the AAP did not do the right thing by quitting the Delhi government in just 49 days. Only 22 per cent backed the party's move.

Despite the lack of support for his AAP in the event of fresh polls, Kejriwal remained a firm favourite among Delhiites for the post of Chief Minister - 39 per cent said they wanted to see him in the post. Both BJP leader Harsh Vardhan, who is the Union Health Minister, and former top cop Kiran Bedi received the backing of 20 per cent of respondents for the post of Chief Minister.

Seventy-one per cent of the respondents responded in the negative when they were asked if the AAP and Congress should come together to form government in order to stall the BJP. Only 21 per cent backed such a move.

The survey showed that Delhiites would not encourage horse-trading - 67 per cent said it was wrong for the BJP to try and get legislators from the Congress and AAP to switch support, while 69 per cent said they believed cash is handed over whenever an MLA switches from one party to another. Thirty-eight per cent also said they did not believe a sting operation conducted by the AAP that purportedly showed a BJP leader offering cash for an AAP legislator to shift his allegiance. more