Jakarta's Christian Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as "Ahok," is leading polls in his Feb. 15 re-election bid, despite having gone on trial on blasphemy charges.

Pollster Charta Politika in its latest survey released on Feb. 1 showed Ahok, who is of Chinese descent, and is running under the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's banner, had 36.8 percent support, up from 28.9 percent in November last year.

His closest rival, Anies Baswedan, a former Minister of Education, was on 27 percent. A third candidate for the Jakarta governorship, Harimurti Agus Yudhoyono, son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had 25.9 percent.

Another pollster, the Indonesian Political Indicators had Ahok leading on 38.2 percent, Baswedan on 23.8 percent and Harimurti trailing on 23.6 percent.

"It shows that the blasphemy trial has had no significant repercussions on Ahok's electability," even though support for the governor dipped during early part of the campaign when he was charged for insulting the Quran during a Sept. 2016 election speech, Yunarto Wijaya, director of Charta Politika said.

Ahok's impressive performance in the last two debates (Jan. 13 and 27) has won back Jakarta voters' confidence, he said.

"Voters have seen his leadership qualities," Wijaya said. A final debate will take place on Feb. 11.

Lucius Karus, a political analyst, said the majority of people supporting Ahok are loyal supporters who have witnessed significant progress in the capital under his leadership.

Karus said most Jakarta voters are rational and look at the leadership qualities of candidates more rather than their religious or ethnic backgrounds.