As the country prepares for Lok Sabha elections between April 11 and May 19, the citizens are eagerly waiting to see if Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return to power or if any other politician will emerge to lead the world's largest democracy.
According to an India Today survey, PM Modi's popularity has increased rapidly over the past five months. The public satisfaction has risen for the Modi government from 44 per cent in October 2018 to 48 per cent this month.
India Today's Political Stock Exchange (PSE) poll conducted by Axis-My-India also said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi stands a tough battle due to PM Modi's rising adulation. It says that 52 per cent of the respondents will prefer PM Modi as the next Prime Minister and 32 per cent will prefer Gandhi.
In October 2018, the overall preference ratio for Narendra Modi-Rahul Gandhi stood at 46:32 which showed a rise in January with the ratio at 48:35. Based on the overall preference chart, the Congress chief has a lot of work to do to catch up with PM Modi.
Thirty per cent of the respondents have been found to be dissatisfied in the latest PSE poll, down from 32 per cent in January. In October 2018, the dissatisfaction levels were recorded at 30 per cent, reported India Today.
Caste and Community-based preferences
According to the PSE, Rahul Gandhi is more favoured among the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Muslim communities and Modi is endorsed by the Other Backward Communities (OBC) which has grown from 55 per cent in January to 67 per cent in March. According to the PSE data, support from the general-category has also increased for Modi from 55 per cent in January to 72 per cent in March.
The opposition leader is highly preferred among the Muslim community and wants him to be the next PM as per the data that shows 57 per cent in January to 61 per cent in March. Only 18 per cent of Muslim prefers Modi, which has also shown a slight increase of 1 per cent as compared to January.
Forty-four per cent of the SC community backed Rahul Gandhi in March from 34 per cent a couple of months ago. His latest support-base among the OBC stands at 20 per cent and 15 per cent among general categories.
Age and Gender-based preferences
Here also PM Modi witnesses a huge win as he is the preferred candidate for the upcoming elections across all age groups. The data shows that 51 per cent belonging to the age group 18-25 and 52 per cent belonging to the age group 61-plus wants Modi to be their leader.
Rahul Gandhi is preferred by 35 per cent belonging to the age group 18-25 voters and 33 per cent of senior citizens, which is another major blow to the Congress chief.
According to the PSE poll data, PM Modi takes the lead in the gender-wise preferences also, with 53 per cent of male and 51 per cent of female respondents and Gandhi is supported by 32 per cent of male and 35 per cent of female voters.
