Narendra Modi has successfully managed to debunk the views of critics and detractors that the popularity of the charismatic Prime Minister was waning, this was revealed by a recent Pew survey.
Narendra Modi has successfully managed to debunk the views of critics and detractors that the popularity of the charismatic Prime Minister was waning, this was revealed by a recent Pew survey. Along with it, the survey also shows PM's immediate political rivals like Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal have failed to garner 'favourable' tag from respondents. While, PM Modi gets a whopping 88 percent favourable responses, which was way ahead of Rahul Gandhi, who got 58 percent and Kejriwal's 39 per cent. Since the Pew Research Center survey was conducted in India from February 21 to March 10, 2017, it directly reflects the mood of the respondents' in the aftermath of demonetisation. PM Modi had announced the note ban move on November 8, barely a few months before the survey was carried out and the impact on the public was current and very much evident at the time the survey was carried out. Pew Research Centre is an US-based think-tank.
Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal have led the Opposition parties' charge against PM Modi and the ruling BJP at the Centre over an array of issues. However, the survey shows they need to get their act together else the 2019 Lok Sabha Election will be a cakewalk for PM Modi and BJP. Apart from their leaders, the parties like Congress and AAP are also running out of steam. The survey shows that Congress got 59 percent and AAP garnered a mere 34 percent as favourable points from the respondents.
With elections scheduled to take place in crucial states like Gujarat (in December) and Karnataka (next year), Congress needs to do all the hard work to catch-up with its principal opponent as BJP has secured a whopping 84 percent favourable responses.
It has been learnt that overall, 7-in-10 Indians are now “satisfied” with the way things are going in the country. This positive assessment of India’s direction has nearly doubled since 2014, Pew said. According to Pew, at least 9-in-10 Indians in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and in the western states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh hold a favorable view of the prime minister. "Three years into Modi's five-year tenure, the honeymoon period for his administration may be over, but the public's love affair with current conditions in India is even more intense," the report remarks.
The study also observes that Modi's popularity is a case of partisan, wherein the 2017 partisan gap in favourable approval of Modi is 32 percentage points, larger than the 20-point divide in 2015 but relatively unchanged from 2016. In all areas of governance, BJP supporters were more likely than the Congress supporters to approve of PM Modi's performance, by 25 points or more. However, supporters of both parties were in consensus regarding their satisfaction with the direction of the country, despite a partisan gap of 18 points in 2016.
More than eight out of ten (85 per cent) respondents expressed faith in the government, of which 39 per cent expressed a lot of trust. Moreover, BJP supporters (90 per cent) turned out to be more trusting of the government than Congress backers (76 per cent).