EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Inside the icy bubble of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cranked up the heat when he spoke of the 3Ds that mark the idea of India—democracy, demography and dynamism. The buzz about India as a business destination was palpable, and Prime Minister Modi, who made a statesmanlike speech, was feted and celebrated. Back home, though, the news is not so good. According to the January 2018 edition of the India Today Group’s Mood of the Nation poll, 23 per cent of the respondents are saying price rise is the issue that concerns them the most, up from 19 per cent in the last poll in July 2017. It’s understandable, given that petrol prices are now the same as they were when Prime Minister Modi came to power in 2014. Unemployment worries 29 per cent of respondents, marginally up from 27 per cent six months ago. But more than that, 53 per cent of those polled believe the government is not doing enough to create jobs.
If Lok Sabha elections were to be held today, the poll says the BJP would win 264 seats, falling below the halfway mark of 272 for the first time in a year—while in January 2017 it was 305, in July, it went down to 298. Yet, it is far ahead of the second largest single party, the Congress, which would win 69 seats, up a mere 25 from the 44 seats it got in the 2014 general elections. Despite disappointments and anxieties, there seems to be little or no alternative to Prime Minister Modi. His popularity as a prime ministerial choice has seen the steepest ever decline of 12 percentage points in the last one year but he continues to be the first choice of 53 per cent respondents. The gap with his nearest contender, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, has narrowed. With his improved speaking skills and better social media outreach, Rahul’s personal popularity has risen from 10 per cent to 22 per cent. But his enhanced individual credibility has not rubbed off on his party. Prime Minister Modi’s continuing pole position seems to suggest that he was right about the appetite for reforms in the country. Despite the havoc caused by demonetisation and GST, the reaction to it is muted, with 47 per cent believing the win in the Gujarat assembly elections is evidence of public acceptance.
The BJP can take comfort in a few such things. It seems to have forever alt ered the discourse of politics in the nation, as is evident in the Congress president’s public embrace of his Hindu identity and 47 per cent respondents agreeing that Rahul’s temple visits challenged the BJP’s Hindutva monopoly. The BJP seems to have eliminated largescale corruption from the higher echelons of government, an impression reflected in the poll as well. It also seems to have convinced India of its slogan of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas’ with over half the respondents believing in it. That apart, with just over a year to go for a general election, it is time for the prime minister to worry about the steady decline of his party and work out how to stem this.
This week, I also have great pleasure in announcing that you, our readers, are truly leaders. India Today English is the most read magazine in the country across genres and languages, according to the latest Indian Readership Survey. It has eight million readers and is followed in second position by yet another India Today Group brand, India Today Hindi, which has over 7 million readers. Total readership of magazines in the country is 78 million, an increase of 95 per cent over the 2014 figure of 40 million. This means one in every five magazine readers in India is currently reading either India Today English or India Today Hindi. India Today English also has more than double the readership of the next most read English magazine. I can only thank you and take this as proof that free and fearless journalism is possible in this era of fake news and alternative facts. Keep the faith.