Cyber constituency is expanding, deepening -Governance Now

Cyber constituency is expanding, deepening

37 percent of urban Indian voters are net users, shows Google survey

ankita sharma | October 8, 2013

The net-savvy voter will have a lot of say in the outcome of the next year’s general elections. As many as 37 percent of urban Indian voters are regular internet users, according to a Google India study released on Tuesday.

The study, titled Urban Indian Voters, compiled to understand the impact of the internet on the coming Lok Sabha elections, is based on an offline survey carried out by TNS. It found that

* Out of the 37 percent voters who regularly use the net, 85 percent of the respondents have voted previously.
* 94 percent of the population intends to vote in the upcoming 2014 elections. However 42 percent of the respondents are still undecided as which party to vote for.
* The political party itself is the main factor in deciding a vote for 37 percent of the respondents. 35 percent respondents said the local candidate would be the deciding factor. A further 11 percent would look at the PM candidate before placing their vote.
* 45 percent of the voters would like to have more information about the parties online. 37 percent said that they would like to see more discussion by the parties on key local issues.

The offline survey, representing 20 percent of the 108 constituencies covered a sample size of 41,000 people. The survey had three main elements that formed the sample of the survey- that the voters should be above 18 years of age, they should be a registered voter and that they should have access to the internet.

Commenting on the study, Rajan Anandan, vice-president and managing director, Google India, said, “A significant population of registered urban Indian voters are now online and spend an equal amount of time on online and offline media. The findings reveal that the internet will play an important role in influencing the large undecided urban Indian population in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. There is an opportunity for political parties and candidates to engage the urban Indian youth on the internet. From Google’s perspective, we are already seeing a massive growth in elections related search queries.”

Also read: Cyber constituency: how parties woo the new middle class

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