BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has emerged as the most searched politician on the Internet in the country during March-August period, according to search giant Google. He was followed by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, while UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi occupies the third position.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and Congress leader Digvijay Singh were the other most searched politicians.
According to the search trends by the Internet major, during the six-month period, BJP was the most searched political party on Google India, while Congress and Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party came in the second and the third positions. These were followed by Bahujan Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena.
‘How to get an election card’ was the most searched query as far as politics and election related search is concerned. This is followed by how to find electoral roll number, getting election card online, how to vote and how to check status of election card were the other top queries. Meanwhile, Google India also released a survey 'Urban Indian Voters', which said 42 per cent of urban registered voters were undecided about who to vote for in upcoming elections.
The survey was conducted offline by research firm TNS during July-August 2013. It covered 41,000 people, with a focus on 7,042 respondents who were registered voters and active Internet users.
Thirty five per cent respondents said their decision will be based on the party, while 36 per cent said local candidate matters to them, the study said.
“Interestingly, 11 per cent said the prime ministerial candidate of the political party will play an important role in their final voting decision. In the west, the preference for the local candidate was the highest at 45 per cent and was the lowest in east at 27 per cent," it added.
Sixty eight per cent of respondents were in the age group of 18-35 years. Male respondents were 63 per cent, while female respondents were 37 per cent.
