Some surveys have suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity ratings have shot up, with people approving handling of the pandemic. It’s been a few weeks since these surveys came out last. People’s patience with the economic cost of the lockdown had not begun running out yet and the migrant crisis had not peaked.
In any case, you have to be really gullible to believe Indian surveys. The credibility ratings of our opinion polls are clearly worse than media and politicians put together. Most surveys can’t even get exit polls right.
It would be much more reliable to hear ground reports, or just talk to a diverse set of people around you. Both these things have been made difficult by the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown. Nevertheless, one would do well to believe a fine ground reporter like Jyoti Yadav when she says migrant labourers feel more hurt than angry with Modi.
Also read: White-collar, blue-collar, no-collar: Discovery of a working class Modi’s India forgot
Déjà vu
This sentiment is similar to what one saw, heard and felt about Modi for much of 2018. Around that time, Modi voters and supporters were on a back foot. The sentiment was that while voters didn’t have a choice, Modi had failed to deliver much. Modi and BJP supporters’ best argument was “Aur hai kaun?” — the TINA (there is no alternative) factor. That didn’t say much about Modi’s achievements.
In December 2018, the BJP lost its strongholds Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh was in trouble with the SP-BSP alliance. The strongest indication was Rajasthan, a state Congress tried best to lose with factional fighting but still won. These troubles had started with Gujarat in the winter of 2017, which the BJP has managed to retain by a whisker.
The feeling then, as now, was of having been let down by Modi. To be sure, such sentiments weren’t shared by everyone, but mostly swing voters, who also happened to be non-upper caste. The twin assaults of demonetisation and GST, resulting in huge job losses and farm distress, were showing.
Absolutely no one can say the Balakot airstrikes did not help Modi in the election two months later. In fact, it is plausible that the BJP may not have crossed the 272 majority mark on its own, had it not been for Balakot.
And Modi did a lot else to redress grievances. He put cash in the hands of farmers, because the Congress party’s promise of farm loan waiver had been key to its winning Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. There was upper caste disenchantment that Modi didn’t do anything for the party’s core base, only neglecting it with his pro-poor push. So Modi gave them some reservation benefits.
Also read: Modi faces no political costs for suffering he causes. He’s just like Iran’s Ali Khamenei
The Teflon myth
The point of recounting these events is to show that Modi’s ratings aren’t stagnant at 79.8 per cent voteshare — 79.8 per cent because that’s the Hindu population of India. And some liberal commentators and analysts talk about Hindus as if every single Hindu votes for Modi. They will also have you believe that Modi’s god-like infallibility is a permanent thing that undergoes no change. We are often told that Modi is Teflon-coated — nothing sticks on him. Right now on Twitter, you can see numerous liberal commentators bemoan that the same migrant labourers who’ve been left by the Modi government to walk thousands of kilometres home will eventually vote for no one but Modi.
All of that is pure bunkum. Liberals need to come out of their Modiphobia-filled echo chambers and see some objective realities. Even if you believe in surveys, you will see that Modi’s ratings keep rising and falling from time to time. It is not a fixed value. If Modi’s popularity was simply a function of Hindutva, or his ability to have Hindus in a spiritual trance, his ratings even in these doubtful surveys would remain fixed. Or at least they’d never fall (at some point they could exceed 100 per cent too!)
The change in Modi’s popularity ratings itself is proof that the public, even his own voters, do judge and assess his performance on an ongoing basis and are not simply transfixed by his oratory and sermonising.
Also read: Modi gained popularity in Covid, but real test comes later. Don’t judge a leader in crisis
C for Contrast
At the very least, such analyses of Modi’s relationship with voters should acknowledge that the BJP’s vote voters and swing voters might have different reasons to vote for Modi. These reasons may range from seeing him as the head of the first Hindutva state to simply going along with the hawa — voting for the likely winner.
Far from appreciating such nuance, liberal critics tend to paint all Hindus as Hindutva and Modi voters when in fact the combined NDA voteshare in 2019 was 45 per cent.
Another crucial point such analyses miss is that Modi’s ratings and votes depend heavily on what the opposition has to offer by contrast. This is true for every politician. The 2019 Lok Sabha election saw Modi win more votes because voters were afraid of the thought of Rahul Gandhi as prime minister (rightly or wrongly), than because the people felt Modi was above questioning, or that he had done a great job at the helm.
The public might vote for you even if they dislike you because they might think the opposition is worse. This is often the case in politics, because most voters are not as ideological as politics junkies think. That’s why you often hear the sentiment that all politicians are ‘useless’.
Take, for instance, the migrant labour issue. Labourers have been on the road virtually since the lockdown began in the second-last week of March. But it took Rahul Gandhi over 53 days to do one photo-op with them. What’s worse is that he was the first prominent national leader to do so. The first prominent national leader to be seen with migrant labourers took over 50 days to do so!
Tejashwi Yadav of Bihar was stuck in Delhi till 13 May. Lockdown excuse. Weren’t there any stranded Bihari labourers in Delhi for him to be seen with? Now, when the migrant labourers in Bihar vote for the NDA in the imminent Bihar assembly elections, we will say look how transfixed they are with Modi. He made them walk thousands of miles and they’re still voting for Modi. Must be Hindutva bigots. But if we go down to Bihar and have a chat with them, chances are that they’ll say they don’t have an alternative, they don’t see Tejaswi Yadav or Rahul Gandhi doing a better job. As simple as that.
The author is contributing editor to ThePrint. Views are personal.
Not easy to digest Modi’s popularity. Understandable.
for fools who feel his popularity has shot up are only fooling themselves and trying to mislead the nation, out of any or every migrants voice is only heard by few if not all, a curse under their breath, Never ever to trust a bunch of liars will not only have humiliated them but have betrayed them and their faith in Namo and his whole bunch of blatant liars
The Print is known for Modi baiting and ruling party bashing. So this opinion piece is yet another feather in your undeserving cap.
Modi should thank cheap media houses like Wire and Print too.. LoL
Oh btw why didn’t you mention the crores that was distributed to the labourers? You know why migrants are so eager to go back? Cuz government has provided them with homes, of cou
Continue to live in denial, The Print! Modi will win in 2024, and you’ll continue writing baseless articles like these
Swing vote and balakot etc are myths.Everything depends on voting machines
The airports in the US are emppty, and yet you see lines like, “Air Travel Surges by 123%!”, as if the air travel industry is booming! The column in New York Times says, “Technically, that’s an accurate number. Over the seven days ended Sunday, an average of 212,580 people went through U.S. airport security checkpoints, up from 95,161 in the week ended April 17.” So may be in India also truth is a victim of coronavirus.
Every dog has its day ,and the truth always slays the lies .
Wah! You find enough to praise Rahul, even as you say that it was just a “Photo- op”. Of what use are such leaders? And. if the surveys about Modi being popular are wrong, wait for the next elections and help Rahul throw him out and himself sit in the PM’s chair. Why day dream and indulge in wishful thinking NOW when there is nothing you can do about Modi being PM, at least until 2024?
You are right. Even the most ardent of bhaksts have begun to question the current regime. So much so that 2024 seems to be a lossing struggle for the BJP. But, we can not discount the fact that labourers were hit equally hard after the demonetization and yet they voted for the same party during UP polls. Also, my worry is that public memory is short and next elections are still four years away. Which, in indian politics is a very long timeline to be used as a barometer to gauge the national mood. The ruling dispensation in next couple of years will try to pull off something , just before elections to swerve the public mood like they did in 2019, and with social faultiness deepening in past couple of months, the ruling party will leave no stone unturn to encash on it.
This third class character called Shivam Vij will strangulate Modi if giv3n an opportunity. Such is the venom for Modi in his articles which are churned out every two days. On the odd day when he doesnt abuse his colleague picks up the baton and unleashes lies and false propoganda. And such piece of trash is called journalism ? What non sense . No wonder Markandeya Katju a few days ago hit out at Shivam Vij for his superficial criticism of Modi which often lacked intellectual depth. Now Katju is no fan of Modi. And for him to blast Shivam Vij, Vij must be doing something extremely mediocre and pedestrian. In fact Shivam Vij and many others at The Print often contradict what Shekhar Gupta said of Modi after he routed the congress yet again in 2019 elections. Gupta was addressing some gathering with Ms Vandita Mishra, another ex Indian Express reporter sitting by his side. Gupta said that the media lived in denial on Modi’s achievements. When stories about gas cylinders for the poor, electricity for all , toilets for all etc were coming out the media refused to see the truth. It tried to find evidence to the contarary but did not find. After the election when reality hit the media very hard as congress once agin lost mediamen like Gupta, known Modi hater, admitted that they were wrong. So Shivam Vij should better do his homework. He is trying to blame Modi for migrants woes forgetting that migrants are responsibility of the state also not just the centre. Trying to spread poison against Modi by mindless criticism will not work. I am will not be surprised if in 2024 these very migrants being him back to power. And if Vij and hia cohorts think that a man seriously short of ideas and intellect will win by that one well choreographed photo opp with migrants he is living in fools paradise for people haven’t forgotten what happened to Kalavati.
Your anti-modi frustrations are like you are crying more than the migrants and your agenda as ever will fail once again as in 2024 also modiji will win once again.nobody can stop this as you can keeping banging your head on the wall.
useless articles.total peec of krap
Sure there are many short comings the way migrant laborer crisis is being handled. It is primarily the State Governments are responsible for this mess. None of them want to take responsibility. Mr. Modi is sincerely trying to handle this matter but he can not do it without State Government’s help. Two States Kerala and UP are handling this crisis relatively better and results are for everyone to see
Poor Shivam Vij, one can feel his frustration, desperation bechara has been abusing, maligning doing anything and every thing to wish since 2002 alongwithwith his friends like Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, entire NDTV gang to somehow discredit, character assassinate Mr. Narendra Modi to see he loses election and his popularity but The electorate and the people would have none of Shivam Vij’ s and his gangs nonsense and Mr. Modi getsreelected with a bigger mandate, when the experts at institutions like WHO, John Hopkins university, institute of communicable disease in Europe , Washington University are appreciating Mr. Modis Timely decisions in fighting Covid – 19 these guys who harbour pathological hatred for the PM can’t stomach that.
Absolutely FAKE NEWS, PLANTED NEWS BY THIS NEWSPAPER. BY PROPAGATING FALSEHOOD YOU CAN’T FOOL PEOPLE. CREDITABILITY OF THIS NEWSPAPER IS …???
Justice Katju will surely have a reply!
I don’t know why Print is so much concerned about the popularity of Modiji. The fact is inspite of so many drawbacks, he is extremely popular because he is perceived to be honest unlike many other politicians whom Print espouses. He may not come from a sophisticated background like many of the dynastic politicians, but he is still liked by the common man…well Print will never understand all these!
No,
His his image has not taken a hit.
His incompetence had come to light but his core voter do not vote for his work, they vote for is greater than life image and there overtly expressed hatred towards minorities.
Just like all Muslims are jihadi terrorists like you, who hate this country and Hindus. This much is obvious from your comment.
It cell Wala idiot at go get a decent job
Wait for elections and you will know. On a side note even if one strongly dislikes somebody, it is foolish to be so blindsided by this dislike that one even fails to see the total picture. It makes one lose both sense and credibility.
Bhai Shivam kal ki tere ek aur write bhai Ali ne likha tha usko ye dikkat thi ki modi ki popularity kam nahi ho rahi kafi pareshan tha vo iss baat se aur aaj tum alag. The print, the wire etc.. kuch jayada nahi ho raha tum logo ka aaj kal
Well… Whether we want to accept it or not this seems to be true to some extent.
I can’t speak for someone else but for me “aur hai kaun?” was the primary reason for voting for BJP in 2019. Not because I love Modi ji or the BJP’S hindutva ideology but simply because I refuse to accept some one like Rahul Gandhi as our PM.
To be fair Congress has far more qualified and capable politicians than Bjp but the problem is they have simply failed to harness thier abilities thnks to Congress’s dynasty politics.
And when it comes to bjp they’re really good at connecting with the mass population wich is also where congress gets completely outclassed.
So ultimately what is the conclusion ? TINA ??
Good example of paid journalism sponsored by a few political parties.
Don’t be a worse guy than politician . what is your point actually?
we are fed up with typical India journalism , A cow tide on a stump .
Please stop this , readers are much intelligent than you think .
what you wrote 2 days before is contradicted by today’s theory.
If you are not courageous enough hold a view , stop this job
a journalist should not be apologetic of a article written few days before ..
will be considered as writer on demand …
99.9999% Indians don’t believe any surveys. Reading such articles is waste of time. It may be business for some.
” shoe i am ” you stupido. You are too afraid to get out of your home. You should have seen BJP and RSS volunteers as well large no of Hindus ( middle class / or you may term them as BJP voters ) have been distributing food and water and essentials . And no Congrass workers , and i would count you are one was seen anywhere . So yes surveys might just be right, or are you too afraid to leave your house to find out. Anyway enjoy pasta and pizza.
Why so much of jealous on popularity of Modi. Please understand he has worked hard to achieve it. Nobody has gifted it on plate to him.The argument that no opposition worth the name hence Modi is preferred is shallow. Even the combined opposition mahakatbhandhan etc.failed to instill confidence. The Corona crisis has been handled amicably against all odds in a highly populous country like India as compared to rich nations.Yes there are sporadic issues like migrants but that requires full cooperation from states also for complete success .India is bestowed with such a visionary leader Modi as PM during
this critical period is nothing but god given gift.
Jai Bharath.
Hello everyone at ‘THE PRINT’,
See what you think is your thinking none of our thinking ;-).
And you please stop telling people of India what they need to do and what not. We all know your organisation maybe receiving handsome pay from the ……. but please you don’t need to educate us atleast. Narendra Modiji is our Prime Minister at present, so atlaest learn to give him some respect. If you were to be in U.A.E. or china or etc. countries you would have been landed behind bars for spreading hatred against the Prime Minister of the country. If you only need money to pen the thoughts of the payer, than collect a cheque from me asap. My mail id is ritzdash44@gmail.com. tell me when are you coming to collect the cheque.
Regards,
Rituraj Sinha
(Advocate at RANE ASSOCIATES)
Why this writer and newspaper have so much pain with the Modi ji popularity.
AND HERE I WAS WONDERING WHERE IS THE SERIAL ABUSIVE HATER ?
THERE HE IS !
NOW, HAVING READ YOUR ARTICLES I DON’T EVEN WANT TO READ THIS NEW ONE.
GOES TO TRASH.
GUPTAJI :
You wanted to communicate that paid subscription is needed, i as an average reader would say, not with this chap.
The popularity of a leader is not constant or always on upwards trajectory. As every leader is constantly under the watchful eye of its supporters ,( number of which keeps on varying in case of leaders at top) , and its permanent detractors. To some of Modi-haters in media, Corona pandemic has sent a golden opportunity to proclaim that Modi ji has lost his popular appeal as his decision to suddenly declare lock Down has shown him to be incompetent leader, who did not gave every strata of the population to plan for itself at its pace. While it is abundantly clear that decision to clamp lock-down suddenly has not been resisted the majority of the people.
The Modi haters have making too much noise on the plight of migrant labour s movement across various parts of India. Why it is thought and projected it is only -Modi created problem ? Modi has to solve it. Modi has to bear the cost of movement. He has to arrange for the safe return of many among millions of workers who want to be with their families to spend lock down time. There are state Governments, (state C.M s), Employers of the migrant labours( manufacturers, traders) who benefit from employing the migrant labours. Then there are NGO s , who claim to be in charity, Political parties, who aspire to garner their votes, in every state . But , for now ,They can sit idle and watch TVs , and have no responsibility towards them, while Modi haters create a negative narrative.
But Modi hater Journalist has to keep in mind this thing.. Elections are 4 years away. India will be in election mode at least after three and half years from NOW. Election will be fought at narrative created by Modi ji, his team, His party BJP , not at all at, Modi s detractor s narrative. This is happening with Modi G since 2002 .
It is totally pre-mature to write off Modi s fortunes in next elections on the basis of some unfortunate people walking down on the highways hastily due to some personal problem or India s ETERNAL PROBLE OF POVERTY.( We have been voting OUT poverty since 1970s when Mata Indira Ji exhorted –GARIBI HATAO–) .
The article by Shivam Vij is welcome to the extent it shows his immaturity to gauge ,and understand the mood of the voters of India since mid-eighties of the last century. Last time it was in 1984 , thirty six years earlier , the party and its leader he want to see in PMO , got MAJORITY , AND Not, never there-after. Let him remain in his hopeful delusion.
As long as one writes about Modi, it can be presumed that he is wanted.
Negative reports may be a signal to improve.
India would never suffer because of Modi. But a Modi wave is also not healthy sign.
I would love to see Capt Amrinder Singh as the opposition PM Candidate. But I know it’s wistful thinking. Congys clowns lick only Gandhi boot.
Agree with this.
Don’t u have anything else to do than Modi bashing
What Shivam Vij wishes to say after a thousand words is “Modi will win regardless of how he governs this country simply because Rahul Gandhi exists.” Well done, Shivam.
Migrants walking home on foot, businessmen suffering losses, salaried losing income, youth turning jobless, pensioners getting destitute, many Indians being pushed into poverty is all Rahul Gandhi’s fault – Modi is blameless. Rahul Gandhi has been holding India back in the last 6 years. If Rahul Gandhi commits suicide tomorrow, there will be nothing left between India and superpower status. Bravo Shivam. Your analysis is spot on. They will be announcing Bharat Ratna for you very soon. Wait for the post-man.
Do you always read and comprehend backwards?
If you want to prove the author wrong, lets have an alternative independent of Gandhi family members in opposition and test it. If you care so much, join politics and become a leader who we can vote for. From conversations with people who have dealt with Congress politics, I can tell you, for the party, Gandhi family is everything. No other real leader can rise up in the party structure to their level, they will allow for no other diversity in opinion. If you get along with them, you can get power.
The current crisis is not Rahul Gandhi’s fault and modi is not blameless. Please read the article. It is this type of unreasonable thinking that is ruining India and polarizing people.
We should recognize that this is a very very difficult situation. Most of us are cognisant of that. We are also aware that Modi has blundered in many ways. Even those who recognize it won’t vote for the Gandhis. And thats the point. How can any one vote for a party to govern india when it can’t govern itself? Congress lost Scindia to BJP and lost MP in process. To a citizen, it doesnt matter why, it matters that this happened. Despite losing 2 elections, they cannot move forward. So do you expect them to take India forward?
Neither is Modi, but with him many feel indian system has been so entrenched with policies that have held us back that it needs time. GST implementation was a bungle up, but GST itself economists agree about. If citizens in India gave a damn about the country, they would speak out against the Gandhi family actively and loudly, not because they are bad, but because they have made themselves boulder in the path of any growth in Congress. If we allow congress to once again fall into Rahul/Priyanka leadership (which is what it looks like), Modi has won.
I read only the headline. Mr Modi was not liked by people in 2014, 2019 and will not be liked in 2024 also. But he will win with still bigger number.
Your liking him or not makes no difference. You should be honest some times.
Kyu Jali?
I mean criticism is good and should be done. but, criticizing the prime minister somewhere down the line has brought you guys to criticize even the good deeds that the government has done. shame.
Like what?
कितने डेस्परेट हो मोदी को गिरता देखने के लिए ????
पर सपना पूरा नहीं होगा लंगूरों !!!!!
फिर भी लगे रहो मुन्नाभाई।।।।
Why do you always write against Modi !!!
So now ………its PM Modi’s fault that the opposition are weak & PappuG is an idiot. ……..where will this moron of an author end?
The Portal is a Modi hater . I don’t why it didn’t say that popularity of Gandh’s has gone up many fold
Modi ji put the agenda of NRC on religious basis thus try to satisfy Hindu voters but at the same time Modiji wants POK Baluchistan etc to merge with India that too encourage anti Muslim wave this is to convert hatred into vote people should realize the fact how religion makes man slave to the agenda that is not in favour of Narion
As usual, play the Victim Card.
You are a illiterate madrasa taught ignorant Muslim, who is not even aware that the whole of Jammu and Kashmir is Indian territory. For such a dumbass to understand NRC, and basic geography will be a miracle. Since miracles do not visit such blood thirsty terrorists, you will remain a blood thirsty terrorist dumbass.
Oh it cell activated
Yes, that is what everyone believed time and again only to be proved wrong. There is a simple reason for this. The critics keep jumping from one issue to another. Which shows either two of the two are correct – The issues raised were untrue or affected miniscule people OR the issues were sorted as and when brought to notice. The bitter after taste reflects in opinion pieces and “analysis by experts” – a pattern found rampant post 2014.
Tireless dark crusader is our Vij. He is living on a bed of nails for the past 6 years, and the agony seems endless. When in pain the Brain works to created illusions, escaping into which can lessen it. Poor chap will again find himself in the wrong, like always.
There is not sanctity of Theprint…. useless media is theprint…
There is no election any where where near or far where Mr Modi is a candidate. Therefore such speculations ,conjectures and wishful thinking by Mr Vij really project his own state of mind and intellect.
Shekhar Gupta, the founder and chief editor, comes through largely as a reasonable person in his video appearances ( small personal biases are present in every human being; thus ignored). However the staff that he has assembled to run ‘THE PRINT’ is highly communal and shallow.
Sometimes I wonder whether I read MR Gupta correctly or I am the one who is being fooled !
SG has shifted to the center for commercial reasons. But his senior staff were colleagues of old, who are dyed in the wool Dilli Darbari Lutyens products. Expect nothing better from them,
Very well thought through article. One gets the idea that most of our leaders including the Pm and opposition are callous men of straw.
Media se bahut madat mil rahi hai. Sitting in my home, I rely on Ms Navika Kumar to tell me what the national mood is. Noodles and chicken, not roti with namak.
Joining Islam with phobia can be the major cause of Covid-19. The word Islamophobia invented by the fascists, ignorants and enemies of Peace, because Islam means Peace, better had they used the word Peaceophobia to expose themselves. In fact the people in the world joined Peace with phobia with hatred, so One Almighty God hit the world with Covid-19 with no letup. This calamity is also for both the Muslims and non-Muslims to mend their ways. Firstly, the Non-Muslims still continue worshiping idols, demigods, humans and trinity which is now proved to be wrong in this age of information and against the religious scriptures of all major religions like Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, as all scriptures say to worship only One God. Secondly, the Muslims have the the Holy Quran revealed to the last prophet of Islam, but the Muslims do not fulfill their duties and do not invite and remind the non-Muslims to worship One God and to follow the last prophet Muhammad ( Peace be upon him ) as mentioned in the religious scriptures of all religions. To avoid this Covid-19, the Almighty God wants the Muslims to fully perform their duties and invite the non-Muslims to the truth to follow suit by inviting them to come to a word common between both, that we worship none but God, and associate none as partner with Him. So it is time for everyone to mend their ways to get out of this mess rather than beating around the bush with no solution.