Lucknow: A survey ahead of the crucial 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has found that most people wanted Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo to return as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister next year.
While 31 percent respondents wanted Mayawati as their CM, 27 percent wanted to retain incumbent Akhilesh Yadav.
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was preferred by only one percent of respondents.
Coming to Congress, one percent of those surveyed approved Sheila Dikshit as the next CM.
And Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was chosen by two percent of people as CM's choice.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP's Yogi Adityanath stood at 18 and 14 percent respectively.
64% of those surveyed said that the BSP chief will be the best bet on handling law and order, while Akhilesh scored 17% and Rajnath Singh 18%.
On the other hand, India Today TV-Axis has given Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) an edge, projecting that it may emerge as the single largest party with at least 170 seats in the 404-member house.
The survey said that BJP, as of now, was in a position to win 170-182 seats, BSP 115-124 seats and the state's ruling Samajwadi Party 94 to 103 seats.
The Congress is likely to win only eight to 12 seats in the country's most populous state, according to the survey.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 71 of the 80 seats in the politically significant state.
Over 30 percent respondents said that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has not fulfilled many of its election promises.
In the 2012 Assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party emerged the winner with 224 seats, followed by BSP with 80, the BJP with 47 and the Congress 28.
(With IANS inputs)
