South picks Rahul over Modi for PM

New Delhi: In a direct contest, most voters in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, will vote for Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister but in the rest of the country Narendra Modi continues to be the preferred choice, according to CVOTER-IANS poll tracker.

In a survey carried out on April 19, voters were asked that if given a chance to directly elect the Prime Minister of India, whom will they choose between Gandhi and Modi.

At the national level, Modi led over Gandhi by 26.10 per cent. But a state-wise break-up showed that 64.96 per cent voters in Kerala preferred Gandhi to be the Prime Minister against only 23.97 per cent going for Modi.

The other states which beat the national trend include Tamil Nadu where 60.91 respondents preferred Gandhi and only 26.93 per cent made Modi as their choice.

In Punjab, 37.04 respondents preferred Gandhi and 36.05 said Modi. All the four are non-Bharatiya Janata Party ruled states.

While at the national level the sample size was 11,192, in the states -- 451 people were asked the question in Andhra Pradesh, 701 in Kerala, 533 in Tamil Nadu and 502 in Punjab.

The Modi lead was -11.00 in Andhra Pradesh, -40.99 in Kerala, -33.93 in Tamil Nadu and -0.99 in Punjab.

Modi has the maximum positive lead over Gandhi in Haryana (61.50). The Congress president is also least preferred in Haryana as only 14.92 per cent respondents favoured him.