India@75 survey: Modi the most popular PM ever, Nehru second

Jawarharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, ranked second with 19% votes, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee emerged as the third-most preferred choice (16%). This means both prime ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) occupy two of the top three spots in the list.

The survey asked the question to 10,271 respondents across 204 cities and towns.

However, there was a clear partisan lens to the prime ministerial preference. Nearly half of the BJP supporters (43%) picked Modi, but this share dropped to just 13% among those who don’t identify with the BJP. Congress supporters were least likely (10%) to pick Modi.

Nehru was picked by 10% of BJP supporters and 30% of Congress supporters.

The respondents were asked to pick from a list of all prime ministers who have completed at least one full term. The scale tilted in Modi’s favour because the BJP supporters form the largest chunk (36%) among the respondents.

The survey was conducted in June and July jointly by the Indian arm of the global market research firm YouGov, Mint, and the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR). It was the eighth in a series of bi-annual online surveys aimed at examining the aspirations, anxieties, and attitudes of India’s digital natives.

Top-rated qualities

When asked about Modi’s greatest strength, the most popular trait that respondents picked was his decisive leadership (25%) and his image as a Hindu nationalist (17%). Expectedly, for BJP supporters, the share of those who praised his decisive leadership was higher at 35%, and his image as a Hindu nationalist got a thumbs-up as his best trait by 21%. Modi’s oratory skills received the least votes (8%). However, this should not be read as respondents disliking Modi’s oratory skills, as respondents could pick only one of five given options.

About 22% said they did not find any good qualities in Modi. This share was even greater (32%) among non-BJP supporters. Even non-BJP supporters also rated Modi’s decisive leadership highly (18%).

Thumbs down

We also asked respondents to pick Modi’s biggest weakness. Of the five choices we gave, the ones that emerged as the top two were economic indicators, with 40% respondents picking them: too much focus on big businesses (21%) and taking the middle class for granted (19%).

One might see this as evident that respondents overwhelmingly agree that Modi’s greatest weakness is in the economic domain.

About 22% don’t think that he has any bad qualities, and only about 10% think that his alleged disregard for the Muslim community is his biggest weakness.

BJP supporters are the most likely (27%) to think that Modi has no bad qualities. About 23% of them think that his disregard for the middle class is his biggest weakness, followed by his focus on big businesses (20%). Respondents who identify with other parties also see Modi’s big business focus as his greatest weakness (22%), followed by his insistent focus on personal publicity (18%).

Rating Modi’s governance

Going by the survey responses, it appears that the prime minister has not been able to realize his promises of inclusive governance (“sabka saath, sabka vikaas"). Indians agree across party lines that Modi has been effective in his work for groups such as Hindus (62% rated it 4 or 5 out of 5), big businesses (64%), women (50%), and farmers (45%).

However, there is a sharp divide when it comes to the perception of his work for other groups. Only 34% respondents rated his work for the middle class highly, 35% on the matter of Muslims, and 38% for the poorest sections of the society. On all issues, BJP supporters were more likely to rate Modi highly.

This holds significance ahead of the 2024 general election season as it presents a sorry picture of what Indians feel about the Modi government’s work across demographic groups.

The authors are with the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi.

This is one of six parts in a data journalism series based on the YouGov-Mint-CPR survey held in the run-up to India completing 75 years of independence. Read all the parts here.

The survey's questionnaires, raw data and methodology for all rounds, including the latest one, can be found here