Uttar Pradesh Voters Demand Reliable Power
Will BJP Deliver?
Contact: Naman Pugalia, Email: naman@fourthlion.in
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: The FourthLion Technologies pre-election survey which accurately predicted BJP’s advantage over SP in the Uttar Pradesh election revealed that power cuts and electricity supply are the most important issue for the people of UP. This survey further revealed that 87% of Uttar Pradesh voters said that they would use electricity generated by the sun if it reduced pollution in their community. This signifies clear demand for clean, reliable power among the people of Uttar Pradesh.
The opinion poll, published by FourthLion Technologies on Feb 6, revealed that BJP led SP by 17 percentage points (BJP 47% vs. SP 30%), excluding undecided voters. In the final election results, BJP defeated SP by 18 percentage points (BJP 40% vs. SP 22%). Our survey used random digit dialing with live telephone interviewers to complete surveys with a representative sample of 2,513 registered voters across Uttar Pradesh.
According to our survey, the number one issue for UP voters in this election was power cuts (28%) followed by jobs, economy and development (20%), water shortages and clean water (10%) and transport and roads (7%). 38% of Uttar Pradesh voters said they lose power every day, 54% said they lose power at least once a week, and just 26% said they never lose power. 46% of urban voters said the air they breathe is polluted compared with 26% of rural voters.
Further down the list were issues such as food (4%), currency ban (3%), crime and safety (3%), corruption (2%), sanitation and toilets (2%), health, hospitals and medical care (1%), agriculture and farming (1%), religious discrimination (0.1%) and caste discrimination (0.07%).
“The recipe for the new BJP government’s continued electoral success in UP comes straight from the voters. If BJP delivers clean reliable power, creates jobs, provides clean water, and improves transportation and roads, they will justify the mandate they have received in Uttar Pradesh.” said Naman Pugalia, FourthLion CEO.
Uttar Pradesh is a challenging state for the newly elected government to lead and develop. It is the world’s most populous subnational state — with more people than Britain, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand combined. Electorally, it is crucial for control of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Yet, Uttar Pradesh has one of the largest energy deficits of any state in India, and energy demand in Uttar Pradesh grows by up to 10% per year. Finally, most Uttar Pradesh households are rural, and even though our survey showed that 84% of all UP households and 82% of rural UP households have access to electricity at home, the majority of rural Uttar Pradesh households do not have proper electrical connections.
The solution to deliver clean, reliable power at scale and within the timeframe required likely involves renewable sources such as solar, wind, water, biomass and geothermal, combined with improved grid infrastructure and rural electrification through DDUGJY.
Innovations in renewable energy over the past ten years have made renewable sources a cost-effective and rapidly deployable solution.
“For example, just last week, entrepreneur Elon Musk guaranteed installation of 100–300 MWh of electricity storage to solve the South Australia rolling blackout power crisis at a cost of $25 million per 100 MWh of capacity installed. And the best part? Musk guaranteed installation within 100 days — or it’s free,” Pugalia said.
Musk was able to make this guarantee because just last year he successfully completed an 80 MWh battery installation in California in just 90 days.
With current levels of population density in Uttar Pradesh, dramatic growth in energy demand, an estimated 15–20 million asthmatics in India and growing concern regarding health, air pollution, water pollution and climate change, the fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) that powered the industrial revolution from the 18th to 20th centuries are facing a long-term decline.
Generating energy through renewable sources, updating the electric grid and investing in rural electrification through DDUGJY also helps to address the second voter priority (jobs, economy, development) through job creation. Manufacturing, installation and maintenance of renewable capacity, storage and transmission includes solar cells, batteries, transmission towers, grid maintenance, management systems, wind and water turbines and much more. This capacity can be built in Uttar Pradesh, creating thousands of jobs in construction, engineering, electrical wiring, maintenance, safety, management and more.
This will also address the third voter priority (access to clean water) in several ways. First, by minimizing use of fossil fuels, air and water pollution are both reduced. Second, reliable energy is critical for water treatment and management. Third, modern electric devices such as laundry and dishwashing machines often use less water than traditional methods.
About the Survey: FourthLion Technologies conducted this survey in partnership with Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC) and IndiaSpend.
Methodology: FourthLion Technologies conducted 2,513 live telephone interviews with UP registered voters aged 18 and older from Jan 24–31, 2017. The margin of error is +/- 1.96 percentage points. All surveys were conducted in Hindi, and were distributed geographically throughout UP using random digit dial (RDD) to ensure that every UP telephone number had an equal probability of being contacted for this survey. We applied weights based on age, gender and caste to ensure a representative respondent sample. Respondents are also representative of UP voters on urban/rural and socioeconomic status.
Voter Demographics: Our voter sample was weighted on age, gender and caste to be representative of registered voters in Uttar Pradesh. Our respondents are also representative of UP voters on other demographics such as urban/rural and socioeconomic status.
About FourthLion Technologies: FourthLion Technologies is India’s leading provider of public opinion polling, using our proprietary instaVaani polling platform, and is the creator of India’s leading mobile ordering, payment, rewards and analytics platform (WalkIn). FourthLion has conducted more than 1 million telephone surveys with Indian voters and survey findings have been covered by leading media outlets such as ABP, NDTV, Bloomberg, Mint, Economic Times, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Financial Express, Business Standard and India Today. FourthLion has also built the fastest growing loyalty and payment app in India for Café Coffee Day, India’s largest food and beverage retailer. FourthLion works with clients in the retail, media, government, politics and development sectors.
