The survey also pointed out that there is a dent in Modi’s purported image of having honest intent, with 60% saying the government under him is not even trying to improve the inflation scenario. The percentage was 35 in January 2021.
India Today’s flagship ‘Mood of the Nation’ survey has found out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was considered as the first choice as next prime minister by 66% of the country last year, has seen a drop of whopping 42%, and is now seen as the first choice by 24% of the country.
Major reasons behind this drop in the popularity of the Prime Minister seem to be the mismanagement of the second wave of COVID-19, and related economic concerns borne by the pandemic.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the second-most popular choice for prime minister, with 11% mentioning him as their first choice for the top post. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ranks third with 10% of the people considering him the first choice as Prime Minister.
However, in the context of Chief Ministers’ popularity, Adityanath is seventh on the assessment of people in their own states. Newly-elected Tamilnadu Chief Minister MK Stalin ranks first in the popularity of the Chief Ministers’ with 42% of votes. Below the DMK leader, rank Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, Maharashtra’s Uddhav Thackeray, Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, and Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma. In top 10 Chief Ministers, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Yogi Adityanath are the only two BJP Chief Ministers.
Naveen Patnaik enjoys 38% popularity, Pinarayi Vijayan has 35% support, while Uddhav Thackeray and Mamata Banerjee have 31% and 30% popularity respectively. Himanta Biswa Sarma and Yogi Adityanath both have 29% popularity.
The survey should concern Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, as he goes to assembly polls next year.
Also, those disapproving of Modi’s handling of Covid went up from about 23% in August 2020 to about 49% in August 2021.
The findings of the survey were published in the India Today magazine, and were discussed on the prime time shows of the television channels run by the same news house. The survey was a hot topic on social media platforms, where people posted screenshots of the findings.
Inflation and unemployment, according to the cover of the magazine, are top concerns of an Indian at this point. The number of people who think that the economy will “get worse” has grown from 17% to 32% in, within only a span of six months. Only 28% felt that their economic situation has improved since Modi became prime minister.
The survey also pointed out that there is a dent in Modi’s purported image of having honest intent, with 60% saying the government under him is not even trying to improve the inflation scenario. The percentage was 35 in January 2021.
In a finding that shows the dire state of the economy, 45% said their household income or salary are not likely to increase anytime soon, while 34% said it will worsen. Only 17% respondents said that it will improve.
People are also skeptical about the data being released by the government, as 71% of people said that there are more people who have been affected by COVID-19 than the official numbers say.
27% among the surveyed people said that large gatherings were responsible for the spread of the second wave. At the same time, 10% blamed state governments for the second wave, while 13% blamed the Centre alone. 44% blame both governments they are under.
Amit Shah is still the number 1 choice as Modi’s successor in BJP, however his popularity dropped from 30% in January to 24% in August. Yogi Adityanath is closing in on Amit Shah with 19%.
In the wake of the opposition calling the Modi government ‘Suit Boot ki Sarkar’ and farmers’ protest being focused on the role of ‘Hum Do, Humare Do’, a whopping 46% think that the economic policies of the Modi government has benefited only big businesses.
Compared with 46% people who said Atmanirbhar Bharat was a very good initiative in January 2021, the percentage dropped to 38%.
People appeared disappointed with the Congress’ role as an opposition party. While 17% said the grand old party’s performance was poor, 8% thought it was very poor. 34% thought Congress was average as an opposition, and 29% said it was ‘good’. Only 9% considered Congress’ performance as opposition ‘outstanding’.
Those who thought that the Congress will be better-off without the Gandhi family decreased marginally with 52% in January to 45% in August. However, those who disagreed with the same increased from 35% in January to 46% in August.
People in Odisha, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Gujarat were most satisfied with their governments’ Covid-19 response.
In a significant display of the state of Indian democracy, 45% respondents said that they think Indian democracy is in danger, up from 42% in January. However, those thinking otherwise remained constant at 47%.
In a surprising finding, 51% said people are scared to protest or express anything on any platform for fear of arrest.
In another significant finding, 41% said they think that Jammu and Kasmir’s statehood should be restored, while 25% said statehood and special status both should be restored.
On the question of corruption in the country, 45% respondents said it has gone up. 33% said it has gone down, while 20% said it has remained the same.
In the matter of communal harmony, the NDA government’s approval rating has gone down. From 55% in January who thought communal harmony has improved, it has now come down to 34%. Whereas, 34% think it has deteriorated, up from 28% in January.
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