New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS): An exclusive survey conducted by CVoter on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas reveals that a majority of Indians think the Congress has come out in open support of Palestine because it hopes to harvest Muslim votes as a result during forthcoming elections.

During the survey, respondents were asked: how do you view Congress Party’s unilateral support for Palestine?

Overall, while a shade more than 3 out of every 10 respondents feel the party genuinely supports independence for Palestine, close to 54 per cent of the respondents are of the opinion that the posture is to please Muslim voters in India.

Interestingly, a higher proportion (42 per cent) of opposition supporters think the Congress is merely wooing the Muslim vote than those (40 per cent) who think the party genuinely cares for Palestine.

There is no division in opinion among supporters of NDA. Almost three out of every four respondents identifying as an NDA supporter thinks the Congress is chasing Muslim votes.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine took on horrific proportions on October 7 when more than a 1,000 Hamas terrorists attacked a music festival and Israeli neighbourhoods near the Gaza border.

Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,300 Israeli civilians in cold blood.

There has been gruesome evidence of elderly citizens and babies being slaughtered.

Hamas has taken 200 Israeli and people from other countries as hostage.

Palestinians living in Gaza Strip have been suffering grievously as Israeli forces have launched repeated air strikes on suspected Hamas locations.

Thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children have been killed. There has been growing clamour for a humane solution whereby more innocent lives are not lost in this aging conflict.

Hamas is a globally designated terrorist organisation.