New Delhi: After the so called flop show in Mumbai, if one thought that the Anna movement was on the wane, one needs to be careful. In fact Anna remains top recall in the people’s mind and irrespective of what happened in Mumbai, they still believe Anna is right and his Lokpal will successfully combat corruption.

Even as Anna’s Mumbai show was collapsing, this surprising result was thrown up in a 28-city survey conducted by STAR News-Nielsen after the Lokpal Bill was passed in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha failed to do so last week.

In the survey, on being asked if support for Team Anna has declined in the recent weeks, a majority 52% of the respondents felt that the support for Team Anna had not declined. Only 42% felt that there was a decline in Team Anna's support.  A whopping 92% of the respondents were aware of the Anna Hazare's hunger strike in Mumbai. For the Lokpal Bill getting stalled in Rajya Sabha, 43% respondents blamed all the political parties for putting the Bill on hold while 30% blamed Congress for the Bill not getting through.

Respondents were asked to share their views on the rigidity or flexibility of Team Anna. 59% of respondents felt that Team Anna should be rigid. Only 36% respondents felt that Team Anna should be a little flexible and should have entered into a dialogue with the government.

On being asked about Anna’s threat of fast-unto-death, 71% respondents supported Anna for fast until death if his demands for changes in Lokpal Bill were not met by the government. But a majority of the respondent feels that the government's Lokpal was also good. On the overall basis; 61% respondents were hopeful about the Bill and believed that it would become an effective law to control corruption.

When asked about the role of political parties in passing the Lokpal Bill there was a mixed opinion amongst individuals. While 48% of respondents felt that political parties have helped, 43% of respondents felt the opposite. Respondents were highly critical of the political parties when it came to corruption. 67% of the respondents held all the political parties equally responsible for the corruption in the nation. Despite Team Anna seemingly anti-Congress stand, only 28% blamed the Congress party for corruption.

On Rahul Gandhi, majority respondents believed it was not the right time for him to take over as Prime Minister. When asked about the suitability of Rahul Gandhi as a Prime Ministerial candidate, 58% repondents did not believe that this was the time for Rahul Gandhi to take over as PM of India.

In a similar survey in August 2011, 39% were of the opinion that Rahul Gandhi should take over as PM but now only 35% feel the same. A dip of 4%. A majority 56% repondents blamed the Congress for handling the recent Anna Hazare strike poorly and 57% felt that it was not the PM Dr Manmohan Singh, but his senior ministers who goofed up.

The BJP emerged as the top choice with 31% saying they would vote for the party while only 21% said they would vote for the Congress. The survey was conducted in 28 cities across the country with a sample size of 8,902 respondents. The complete field work was carried out in the period, 30th December 2011 to  01st January 2012.

Highlights of Survey in August 2011 (28 cities, sample 8,926)

Rahul Should Stay Away:

At an overall level, 54% felt that it was not the right time for Rahul Gandhi to take over as PM of India.

Ministers not PM responsible:

64% of the respondents felt that senior ministers of current UPA govt were responsible for the poor handling of this situation. 71% felt the same in Tier 1 cities.

Sonia would have handled it better:

54% respondents felt that even Sonia Gandhi wouldn't have handled the situation better. At an overall level, more than half (54%) respondents saying that the situation was poorly handled by Congress.

All parties equally corrupt:

3/4th (75%) of the respondents felt that all the political parties were equally responsible for corruption in country.

Arvind Kejriwal is the the newest national hero:

58% of the respondents claimed that they would vote for Arvind Kejariwal and about 1/4th (24%) for current Home minister Shri P Chidambaram.

Very interestingly, 62% of the respondents felt that Arvind Kejariwal has emerged as the new youth icon in India. He has significantly higher ratings in North (75%).

 Kiran Bedi vs Kapil Sibbal – 74% of the respondents claimed that they would vote for Kiran Bedi and only 14% for Kapil Sibbal.

Majority agree with Team Anna:

56% say that the Lokpal Bill should be passed immediately and amendments required can happen in subsequent bills.

53% of the respondents felt that if strong Lokpal bill were to be implemented in India, then India would be corruption free in five years from now. 40% did not agree with the same.

Anna’s fast-unto-death is just:

82% of the respondents felt that Anna Hazare's way of protesting (fast until death if his demands are not accepted) was the right way to force the government. Only 12% felt that this was not the right way and amounted to blackmailing the government.

Also Read: Detailed questionnaire of the poll
A comparison of Jan and August surveys
Methodology of the current survey