Nawaz Sharif most popular in Punjab, KP, Sindh: survey

KARACHI: PMLN Supremo Nawaz Sharif is leading in popularity ratings across Punjab,58pc KP, 46pc, and Sindh, 51pc. Whereas there was a perceptible drop in the popularity of incumbent Prime Minister Imran Khan who ranked second in popularity in KP with 46pc and third with 33pc popularity in Sindh and Punjab.

These were the findings of a Gallup Pakistan opinion survey conducted from Dec 22 to Jan 31, soliciting views of 5000 people from across the country about the popularity of PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif, PM Imran Khan, PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. 

In the current survey, Nawaz Sharif managed 46pc in KP, followed by 44pc for PM Imran Khan, Shehbaz Sharif 43pc, Bilawal Bhutto and Asif Zardari got 24 pc in the KP There is a significant reduction in the level of satisfaction with PM in KP which has dropped from 67pc in Feb 2020 to 44pc in the current survey, while that of Bilawal Bhutto dropped from 26pc to 24pc. 

However, in the case of Nawaz Sharif, his approval ratings increased from 33pc to 46pc and that of Shehbaz Sharif rose from 31pc to 43pc in the KP. In the case of Punjab, 58pc respondents approved Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, while 33pc approved Prime Minister Imran Khan, 24pc Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and 21pc Asif Ali Zardari. 

According to Gallup Pakistan, this was the first time that the popularity of the former PMLN prime minister rose after Dec 2018 and Nawaz Sharif managed similar ratings as that of Shehbaz Sharif. But the popularity of PM Imran Khan that rose to 51pc in 2018 has now dropped to 33pc. While that of PPP Chairman increased to 24pc from 18pc then.

About the response in Sindh, the pollster recorded 51pc popularity for the PMLN Supremo Nawaz Sharif, 41pc for Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto secured 37pc, Imran Khan 33pc, and Asif Ali Zardari managed 31pc. In comparison to the 2018 Gallup Survey, the popularity of Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif rose from a mere 12pc to 51pc and 41pc, whereas that of PM Khan dropped from 33pc in 2018 to 10pc in Feb 2020, which has again risen to 33pc in the current survey. But in the case of Bilawal Bhutto, the popularity ratings dropped in the home province from 54pc to 39pc and has now further dropped to 37pc.