Ahead of Karnataka Assembly Election 2018, the voters in the state scored the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government 7.09 on a scale of 10 for its overall functioning during its ruling period. In a recent survey conducted by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and DAKSH, a civil society organisation, the government’s performance on schools, electricity and water supply helped the party to gain positive reviews from the voters. The survey was conducted across 225 Assembly constituencies with 13,244 interviewees in Karnataka. With an aim to identify the prime issues in view of the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, the survey was conducted between December 2917 and February 2018.

According to the survey, creating employment opportunities and tackling corruption could affect Siddaramaiah government in the upcoming state polls. The Survey has reviewed the performance of the state government on several important parameters. The urban voters have scored the state government 7.85 on the scale of 10 while rating its performance on schools. Electricity supply and public transport are better with 7.83 and 7.61 out of 10. In the Urban areas, the voters pay attention to the issues like clean water supply, better schools and significant electricity supply.

Urban Karnataka rated the government a 6.79 out of 10, which states government’s poor performance on providing public toilets. The survey reported that jobs training, zone regulations and anti-terrorism are some of the least important issues for urban Karnataka. Meanwhile, voters in rural areas are most concerned about the issues like access to water supply, better school and better roads. Access to local MLA, anti-terrorism and jobs training are least important topics for voters in rural areas.

While 67% of all voters give preference to the political party, a good candidate is important for 86% of the total voters. For 37% of total voters religion of the candidate was important whereas candidate’s caste was important for 36% of them.