PM Modi not popular anymore; according to approval ratings

PM Modi is undoubtedly a populist leader of India with a legendary die-hard fan following cutting across the country’s diverse population. His charisma and crow pulling ability is unmatched across his opponents. He has an image of a leader who is honest, transparent, and capable of delivering.

The trust was so blind among the masses that even if some legislation of his government did not work upto the expectations and failed, the common dialogue coming from the people to shield him was ” Jo Bhi Modi Ne Kiya Soch Samaj Kar Kiya Hoga ( Whatever action Modi took had a logical reason behind it.) ” This was evident during Demonetization when people qued up without any hate for him and when people accepted the flawed implementation of GST.

Such was the trust that even during the harsh lockdown imposed last year where migrant laborers were forced to walk long distances due to loss of livelihood and the economy going into recession his approval ratings increased to an all-time high of 83%. ( according to morning consultant- a political data intelligence company )

But things are looking bad for him this year with the approval percentage plummeting to an all-time low of 67% due to his mismanagement of the second wave of the pandemic. The disapproval has increased to 28 %, the highest in 7 years. Though this is still a healthy approval rating, the trend is a cause of concern which if sustains due to opposition pressure and propaganda, can bring down his government in 2024 marking an end to the Modi era.

According to another polling agency-Centre for Voting Opinion in Election Research, 3,000 people a week in 11 Indian languages were surveyed and the results are not promising either. The number of respondents who describe themselves as “very satisfied” with Modi’s performance has fallen sharply to 40%, down from 64% last year. Those describing themselves as “not at all satisfied” has increased to 32%, up from 15% last year.

Last year the people supported him due to the ” rally around the flag effect ” in which people support a government blindly due to war, natural calamity, etc. His nationalistic image with the backdrop of the abrogation of article 370 and the threat of China gave a boost to this effect.

Therefore even if the economy nose-dived and migrants faced a huge crisis he got the support of the people. But this effect cannot sustain for a long duration as seen in the ratings.

Also, the second wave is majorly wreaking havoc due to the overconfidence of the Central government. Despite having a year to prepare many BJP ruled states are facing a shortage in oxygen, beds, medicines, etc while many opposition ruled states are doing well.

The one thing that dented the image of the PM most was his arrogant and overconfident move to continue with his rallies in election-bound Bengal and not stopping the Kumbh Mela when cases started increasing at an astounding rate in India. When he did start addressing the issue it was too little, too late. Not to forget his poor communication management despite being a charismatic speaker.

However, all is not lost as Modi still gets a 60% rating on the question of who will be their preferred Prime Minister candidate. The surprising thing is that the second preference is undecided with the opposition’s candidate Rahul Gandhi coming a distant third. Whether the opposition will be able to capitalize on the undecided voters remains to be seen.

Going by the Modi government’s previous track record, it is likely to undertake some major measures to pacify its public. But will it have an impact and can sustain can only be answered in the near future.