Kashmir Digits

According to India Today’s “Mood of the Nation” survey, PM Modi’s popularity rating has dropped from 66% to 24% in one year.

The primary reason for the fall in ratings was attributed by the respondents to the handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

“While Modi was lauded for his handling of the first wave with a high 73% approval rating in January 2021, the disruption experienced during the second wave has seen that figure drop to 49%,” the India Today report said.

As many as 27% of those who participated said that large gatherings, including election rallies, were responsible for the second wave of the pandemic in India. About 26% said that it was caused due to disregard of Covid-appropriate behaviour.

Of the respondents, as many as 71% said that Covid-19 had infected and caused more deaths in the country than reflected in government data. However, 44% of the participants attributed the health crisis to both the central and state governments.

According to India Today’s survey, as many as 29% thought that price rise and inflation was the biggest failure of the National Democratic Alliance government. About 23% of the respondents thought that the unemployment rate was the second biggest failure of the Modi government.

Favoured PM candidate?

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath was the second politician after Modi that the survey’s respondents chose for the prime ministerial position with an 11% rating. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was the third most popular face for the post with a rating of 10%.

Gandhi has seen a rise in popularity ratings from 8% in 2020, the India Today survey found. Adityanath has also seen a hike in popularity from 3% in 2019.