With 2019 General Elections round the corner, ‘Brand Modi’ seems to be more popular among the people in comparison to any other political brand. The four-month long survey in Delhi with a sample size of 34,000 has found that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is popular among all the sections of society. According to the survey, PM Modi has an approval rating of 63% as the prime ministerial candidate in 2019. In 2014 run up to Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi’s rating as prime ministerial candidate stood at 59%.
The approval rating apart from signifying the increase in popularity of PM Modi ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, also shows that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been a huge disappointment to the people and the BJP is likely to repeat its 2014 like performance in Delhi.
The factors which have gone in the favour of PM Modi are schemes launched by Central government, PM Modi’s interaction through radio programme Mann ki Baat, and government’s foreign policy. The survey which was carried out between July and October also revealed that half of the respondents were of a view that prime ministerial candidate plays an important role in deciding the voting preference. Only a quarter of respondents listed that they would cast their vote on party lines.
In the survey, it has been found that various central government schemes like Swachh Bharat campaign, Jeevan Jyoti Bima, Ujawa Yojana (free LED bulbs), Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna, Ujwala Scheme etc have also received thumbs up from the people.
This is not for the first time that PM Modi has emerged as the most popular choice in a political survey. Earlier, in an online survey carried out by ‘The Indian Political Action Committee’ (I-PAC), 48 per cent respondents preferred Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leader who would take the ‘agenda of the nation’ ahead. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi got 11% votes whereas Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal occupied the third spot with 9.3% of votes.
For more details: PM Modi tops the popularity chart in nationwide survey, Rahul Gandhi a distant second
In a major survey conducted by the Dailyhunt, PM Modi emerged as the most popular leader across India. It was one of the largest and most comprehensive digital political surveys in India. 63 per cent of the respondents expressed more or similar levels of trust in Narendra Modi as they showed in 2014. BJP had come at the helm of affairs in 2014 on account of a massive ‘Modi wave’ and Dailyhunt’s survey suggests that PM’s support base is still intact.
For more details: Survey: PM Modi’s popularity continues to wither opposition’s prospects
All these surveys cement the fact that PM Modi is still the most popular leader among the people. Even in the last year of his tenure, Prime Minister Modi’s popularity is showing no sign of decline, in fact his popularity has only increased. It gives us the glimpse of how the political events are set to unfold in the days to come.