Modi's popularity dips to 24%, but BJP best bet if polls held now: Survey

The numbers of the current survey are a sharp dip from 66 per cent of respondents who viewed Modi as best suited to be the next PM in August last year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity appears to have taken a hit as only 24 per cent of respondents of a survey by India Today said they would like to see Modi as the next prime minister.

The numbers of the current survey are a sharp dip from 66 per cent of respondents who viewed Modi as best suited to be the next prime minister in August last year. As many as 11 per cent of respondents wanted to see Yogi Adityanath as the next prime minister.

Despite the dip in popularity, the Mood of the Nation Survey for August 2021 found that BJP would still win a comfortable majority with 298 seats if the Lok Sabha elections were to be held now.

The Congress and its allies together could win 105 seats, a shade better than the 93 seat projected in August last year.

The survey also found that only 11 per cent of respondents viewed Modi’s performance as prime minister ‘poor’, while 16 per cent found it outstanding. As many as 38 per cent of respondents found Modi’s performance as ‘good’, while 30 per cent of respondents rated it as ‘average’.

Also read: Evacuate Indians, help Afghans seeking refuge: PM Modi

As many as 29 per cent of respondents said the single biggest failure of the Modi government was its handling of price rise and inflation, while 23 per cent felt it failed to deal with the growing unemployment.

An overwhelming 71 per cent of respondents felt that Covid-19 had killed more people in India than what was reflected in government figures.

Sixty-nine per cent of respondents said their income had reduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while 17 per cent reported a loss in business or jobs.

The survey showed 24 per cent viewed Home Minister Amit Shah as best suited to succeed Modi as BJP’s candidate for prime minister, followed by Adityanath (19 per cent) and Rajnath Singh (11 per cent).

The survey showed that 51 per cent of respondents felt that opposition parties criticised the government for the sake of criticism during the pandemic, while 37 per cent were of the opinion that the opposition held the government accountable with constructive criticism.