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Modi is not Teflon-coated, he is ‘cast in titanium’ — What Mood of the Nation poll suggests

In episode 667 of #CutTheClutter, ThePrint's Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta talks about some interesting findings from the poll & what they mean for opposition parties.

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New Delhi: The results of the ‘Mood of the Nation’ survey by India Today are out, revealing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overwhelming support base is still intact. 

In episode 667 of Cut The Clutter, ThePrint’s Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta highlights some interesting findings from the survey, and lessons for the Congress and opposition parties.

The survey stated that if an election is held today, then the NDA will get 321 seats and BJP 291. The UPA will secure 93 seats, with the Congress managing only 51.

“So the BJP just lose about 12 seats compared to the last Lok Sabha election, which is remarkable, given that almost two years have gone now since that election,” Gupta noted. 

It is sheer resilience, said Gupta, adding that “…Americans like to say that somebody is Teflon coated, but Teflon also wears out with use in the course of time. So with Narendra Modi, it does look like this is not Teflon coated. But this is cast in titanium”.

“Despite nearly two years of anti-incumbency, Covid-19 pandemic, economic decline and joblessness, people are not delusional and the Congress remains where it was,”  added Gupta.

He also noted that the NDA maintains a 16 per cent lead over the UPA in the poll, which is significant.

Amit Shah not viewed as a natural successor to Modi

The poll also showed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah continues to remain the best performing minister, followed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. 

But despite his place as the best performing minister, Shah is not viewed as a natural successor to PM Modi as 10 per cent want UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as the next prime minister, followed by Shah, who was chosen by 8 per cent of the respondents.

As many as 38 per cent of the respondents want Modi to continue as the PM after the next Lok Sabha election. 

The percentage of respondents who view Ram Mandir as PM Modi’s biggest achievement increased from 20 per cent in August 2020 to 27 per cent in January 2021, the poll results showed. 

The second biggest achievement is the abolition of Article 370 (20 per cent) in J&K and the third is the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic (15 per cent). 

“However, there is a twist here, which is that 73 per cent people think that the Modi government’s handling of the Covid crisis has been good or outstanding, which is an interesting point and could be one of the reasons why Amit Shah gets such a high rating as a minister,” Gupta added.

This is particularly interesting in the context of another data, in which 66 per cent of the respondents, including workers, farmers, self-employed individuals, said they have suffered a loss of income due to the pandemic.


Also read: ‘Act of treason’ by Modi govt — Congress raises heat over ‘leak’ of Balakot info to Arnab


Why Congress is still stuck at 51

According to the poll, one in five Indians said they lost their job or business during the pandemic and only one in three said they benefited from the government stimulus. 

As many as 61 per cent people went to government hospitals, while 24 per cent went to private hospitals when they fell sick. However, 76 per cent of all respondents are satisfied with the medical care they got at these hospitals. 

Vaccine hesitancy is not much present among the general public as 76 per cent respondents in the poll said they will take the vaccine.

Gupta then went on to explain why Congress is still stuck at 51 seats.

“… the reason is that Congress and the opposition in general have been trying to hit Modi where it doesn’t hurt him — which is on nationalism, which might be on religion, which might be on communal harmony, on corruption, because those are areas where people don’t doubt his intentions.”

“Congress should have learned from the fact that people of India, voters of Narendra Modi forgave him completely for demonetisation, which was the biggest mistake he has made so far,” Gupta said.

Gupta also argued that if the Congress and Modi’s opponents had focussed on “unemployment, declining economy, declining income”, then they might have done better.

Watch full CTC here:

 


Also read: Modi’s BJP and Rahul’s Congress have one thing in common — they are causing ‘ally aversion’


 

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10 COMMENTS

  1. No doubt modiji’s patraiotism is unquestionable, he is the best for making foreign policies n cracking down core issues. The only two things badly happen are demonitization n then covid pandemic otherwise India would have been a 5 trillion economy uptill now . Self employment is must u cant rely on govt. For roti ,kapda n Makaan, u just can expect less interest loans n quick loans

  2. Here’s a quick reminder to Shekhar Gupta to ask leading questions about BJP’s promises in next opinion polls:
    1. Acc to Modi in 2013, petrol prices should have been Rs. 45 per litre (when it reached Rs. 60 / litre). Today, it’s reached Rs. 92 per litre, and Adani might take over Bharat Ratna, Indian Oil. Why?

    2. Acc to Modi in 2013, MM Singh was selling the country in foreign hands, when 1 USD= Rs. 60. Today, 1USD = Rs. 73.00, isn’t PM Modi selling the country in foreign hands, based on his logic earlier?

    3. The farm laws and Modi’s dodging to face farmers have clearly exposed Modi’s inability to face truths, whether it’s in press conferences (not one in 6 years), or inability to answer questions by people. 2024, will show the true opinion poll to Bjp and Godi Media!

  3. Opposition has problem. being identified too long with secularism, article 370 and less tough approach to Pakistan their every move is seen as attempt to undermine Hindus. so they don’t get much traction. Only opposition leader who managed to get traction is Kejriwal, because he is not seen as anti-Hindu.

  4. Disclaimer: This is not a political statement.

    If the base of the BJP is intact, it is because of what the Government is doing rather than what they are not doing. The media has a misplaced notion (over decades) that it has a constitutional duty to report only where the Governments are faltering.

    Food for thought: Is the media also power hungry?

  5. Hahaha. What an analysis. Where is NDA
    SS Akalis And lot of smaller parties left
    Jdu question of time . 13000 is the sample
    All state byelections lost or captured assblies by shameless manipulation. Print and Sekharji at their ridiculous best

  6. DO U KNOW WHAT TITANIUM IS EXCEPTIONALLY BRITTLE WHEN COMPARED TO STEEL THAT IS WHY NOT USED IN OBJECTS I WONDER WHAT U REALLY TRYNA SAY

  7. So what is so surprising that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overwhelming support base is still intact. “, if , in a country like America, the second highest number of voters, 74 million, voted for “Donald J. Trump — demagogue, con man, lawless, narcissist, reality television star. A man without any governing experience, Mr. Trump was almost proudly ignorant on policy matters. But what he did know how to do, with frightening success, was inflame the passions of the Republican base, to play to their fears and resentments, especially their racial and ethnic resentments, to turn them against our institutions and constitutional order, and to feed them lies and conspiracy theories.” All this after more than 30,000 falsehoods and lies on his part, and nearly 400,000 coronavirus deaths. Like Modi, his support base of tens of millions of voters is still as solid as anything known to mankind. The fact that the support base of these two luminaries are still intact only means that their supporters are an ignorant, immature, lot.

    • In a democracy a vote is a vote. By definition universal franchise mean that each one is allowed one vote. Liberals had worked for past Century if not centuries to reach this point in history. But calling names to the fellow voters it does not make you any better nor would it allow you to win an election. Such a thinking is not progressive and against the principles of democracy.

  8. It’s shame that media like India Today and yours of late have joined bandwagon of promoting one party and one man. While it’s for the voters to Judge who is good or otherwise,. Democracy is not run on few thousand respondents. Media has important role to high light what is not happening and then leave it to people. Only real poll and not mood can turn out to be correct. As for as real issue, people are yet understand implication on them. Why mood of nation has not asked whether BJP or any other political party has right to collect Ram temple donations, when Apex court has directed govt to form trust and of only the trust should collect voulntary donation.

  9. Government’s handling of the economy has been poor and we have been caught by surprise on the China frontier. However, PM Modi’s personal honesty, drive and patriotism is unquestionable; that, along with the fact that he is a self-made person who has won his place by sheer merit, ensure his continued popularity. In contrast the opposition and indeed most Indian political figures are known for their corruption, nepotism and incompetence. His main achievements are his clear-eyed pursuit of a firm policy on Kashmir and Pakistan, and his ability to make the ordinary Indian – long suffering from a complex toward the West – feel proud of his Indian-ness. However, unless he sorts out the economy – which will require appointing capable people at the political and bureaucratic level and going beyond slogans such as Atmanirbhar Bharat – India could suffer a serious setback to its rise. The government is lucky that the opposition is incompetent, but that is no cause for complacency.

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