Most voters say no to politics of religion in Times Group's mega online poll

NEW DELHI: A majority of Indians don't believe India has become less tolerant or secular under the NDA, according to an online survey conducted in 9 languages across 10 Times Group media properties.

However, an overwhelming majority of the respondents want the BJP-led government not to focus on religious issues while campaigning during elections, finds the three part-survey conducted online between December 12-15 with over half a million responses.

It's no wonder then that 55 per cent of respondents don't believe the controversial 'Ram mandir' construction is a major issue in the lead up to the 2019 general elections, according to the survey.

A whopping 80 per cent of respondents said that BJP should stick to vikas rather than pulling in religious issues into electoral campaigns.

To a question on whether the Modi government has lived up to its 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' slogan, around 67 percent of those surveyed believe it has, while about 29 percent answered in the negative.

On contentious religious issues and the politics of secularism, 73 per cent are favourably inclined towards the Modi's government's stand against triple talaq and Rohingya refugees and in favour of a Uniform Civil Code. These respondents believe that the Centre's stand on these issues has actually strengthened the secular fabric of the country.

While critics charge that the government's stand on these very issues - triple talaq, Rohingya refugees and Uniform Civil Code - has contributed to a growing atmosphere of intolerance in the country, a majority of respondents of the survey felt differently.

As many as 63 per cent of those surveyed said India has not become intolerant or less tolerant under the Modi regime, while 32 percent said it has.

Watch live discussion on the survey on Times Now

Survey methodology:
The Times Group's survey was conducted online over 72 hours between December 12-15. The survey was conducted in 9 languages across 10 Times Group media properties. Each response has been geo-tagged to city and state. The results were concealed from voters till after voting ended.