A resurgent and united Opposition dealt another blow to the PM Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), defeating it in electorally-crucial Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana and Noorpur bypolls.
BJP’s defeat in Kairana was a successful test case for Opposition unity ahead of the 2019 general elections. The BJP and its allies could only win three of the 14 seats up for grabs in the recent bypolls. Out of the four Lok Sabha seats in play, BJP won only in Maharashtra’s Palghar, while the BJP-NDPP alliance won in Nagaland. The saffron party lost in Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondia. Among the Legislative Assembly seats that saw bypolls, the BJP only won in Uttarakhand’s Tharali. The saffron party’s ally, the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United), lost Bihar’s Jokihat to the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
This shows that the popularity of PM Modi is fading. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chances of getting re-elected in the 2019 elections have slipped from “99 per cent” in 2017 to “50 per cent”, says economic analyst Ruchir Sharma, noting that a fragmented opposition is showing signs of coming together.
“The BJP has secured unusual and extraordinary mandate in four years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule. While Modi continues to swing election after election by his ever-growing popularity… in by-polls, local issues, castes, and candidates take precedence over national leadership,” BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP G V L Narasimha Rao said on Thursday.
Further, going by recent surveys, Modi still remains the “most popular leader” in the country, leaving Congress President Rahul Gandhi far behind.
An online survey conducted by the Times Group recently showed that almost two-thirds (71.9 per cent) of the respondents will vote for Narendra Modi as PM candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections.
According to another survey, even though Modi’s popularity has taken a dip over the years, he still remains the most popular leader in India. The ABP News-CDS survey, held recently, pegged Modi’s popularity at 34 per cent and Rahul’s popularity at 24 per cent.
Further, according to a C-Voter survey, published in January this year, sixty-six per cent of the respondents preferred Modi as prime minister, while just 28 per cent of respondents chose Rahul Gandhi as prime minister.
Agencies