While the Congress-NCP retained 63 per cent of its voter base in assembly polls compared to the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP-Sena retained 76 per cent. Contrary to the common belief that it is the MNS that ventured into BJP- Sena votes; it is the latter that grabbed 10 per cent of MNS vote-share.

This, and many more unusual outputs have come out as a result of the survey conducted by students of the Department of Politics, University of Pune during the recently concluded State Assembly Polls.

"This is a glimpse of the minds of Maharashtra voters. The aim behind the survey was to find out which elements of the society supported which political party.

What have been the key issues in voters minds, what factors changed the approaches between the Lok Sabha Polls and the assembly polls and so on," said Suhas Palshikar, professor, Department of Politics.

With a questionnaire prepared by the faculty members of the Department, the state-wide survey was conducted by 96 field investigators at 144 locations in 48 assembly poll constituencies with random sample method from evening of October 13, the voting day till 16. While the survey accepts the fact that a large number of young voters voted for MNS, it statistically denies the party's image as 'Youngsters' Party'. The survey states that between age group 18- 25, only eight per cent voters opted for MNS. This number is just two per cent more than the total share of MNS votes, which is six per cent. The survey states that 19 per cent of MNS voters are below the age group of 25 years while 34 per cent of its voters are above 34 years of age. "Sons of the soil is another issue that grabbed the limelight this assembly polls. The survey states that voters in Maharashtra are in a state of dilemma and have neither completely accepted the agenda nor have they completely rejected it. But have yet not been able to accept the issue as their own," added Phalnikar.

... contd.