New Delhi: A new popularity survey of personalities who represent India's best of the best in the political class has revealed some astonishing details.
The ‘Mood of the Nation’ poll conducted by India Today shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to be the most popular among the voters.
Modi would still be the favourite to be the country’s prime minister if elections were held now, the survey, conducted in partnership with Karvy Insights, said.
While 50 percent of the respondents favoured PM Modi, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi lagged far behind with 13 percent vote, followed by Sonia Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, the poll said.
PM Modi’s popularity alone would override any anti-incumbency sentiments against his government, the survey noted.
If Lok Sabha elections are held now, the survey said the NDA would get 304 seats as compared to 336 seats the coalition garnered in 2014.
Although the seat count has dropped, a majority of the people still want the NDA leaders to come back to power.
However, when people were asked about who they thought was the best PM ever, they overwhelmingly said the name of Indira Gandhi. Atal Behari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi came in second and third spots respectively.
In popularity ratings for chief ministers, Arvind Kejriwal and Nitish Kumar are tied for the top spot with 14% vote each. While Mamata Banerjee comes second, Shivraj Singh Chouhan is on the third spot.
The popularity survey was carried out across 97 parliamentary constituencies in 19 states, said the report.
