In the upcoming general elections that promise to be a direct contest between the Gujarat chief minister and Rahul Gandhi, Modi has outpaced the Congress vice-president by a wide margin, a survey by ET shows.
Every second voter in the two states is seen rooting for Modi's prime ministerial bid and the surge in his approval ratings is in stark contrast with the numbers for Rahul Gandhi.
While only 9 per cent respondents in Uttar Pradesh found Gandhi a suitable candidate for the prime minister's post compared with Modi's 50 per cent, his rating was marginally better in Bihar where 19 per cent backed the Congress scion's suitability.
But Gandhi trails Modi in every category of voters — gender, age groups and rural-urban.
Modi, 62, also has more traction among the young and first-time voters, despite being 19 years older than Gandhi. Unsurprisingly, Modi's candidature is prompting Muslim voters to gravitate towards Congress. But they fear this has the potential to put off Hindu voters and could lead to a counter-polarisation harmful to Congress' electoral interests.
Modi is seen to have better credentials than Gandhi to handle the economy, national security, foreign policy and national security. And, at a time coalition building is vital to securing power at the Centre, Gandhi scores low as an alliance manager. This is not good news for Congress as single party rule has become a thing of the past.
Interestingly, the survey results on the image of Modi and Gandhi among Congress and BJP voters, respectively, find Modi ahead here too — he enjoyed 11 per cent acceptability among Congress voters whereas Gandhi was favoured by just 4 per cent BJP voters. The sharp rebuke for Mulayam Singh Yadav and Nitish Kumar — Modi's main challengers in the heartland states — in these states is also helping BJP move beyond its base and attract new categories of voters. Signs of panic are already on display in the Samajwadi Party camp with Mulayam Singh recently asking the electorate not to punish him for the follies of the Uttar Pradesh government.
Modi scores higher marks for his handling of bread-and-butter issues, showing that Gujarat's economic progress under him and his relentless criticism of governance failures under the Congress-led UPA have managed to swing perceptions in his favour despite his opponents' attempts to demonise him for the 2002 communal riots.
In contrast, Gandhi appears to suffer a disconnect, with his entitlement agenda failing to strike a chord in a fast-urbanising country that is moving beyond staple needs to higher aspirations. The corruption scandals engulfing the UPA government have also hobbled Gandhi.
Past elections have shown that the electorate is quick to register its discontent in the face of political f luidity. This has translated into a sharp dip in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's approval ratings. Singh, once an icon for middle-class voters, is struggling to convince voters about his influence on the party or the government. The survey shows Singh languishing at the bottom of the league table along with the likes of LK Advani and Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Source: ET
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