NDA’S MID-COURSE CORRECTION
The Modi government has carefully handled voter alienation with midcourse corrections—the 2016 budget aimed at assisting farmers and the rural poor. This reflects in the MOTN survey where 51 per cent say the Modi government is working for farmer welfare as opposed to 32 per cent begging to differ. Similarly, 40 per cent say NDA policies benefit the poor and unemployed, only 13 per cent say UPA did better. Even if NDA numbers have come down marginally from 44 per cent in February, support for the UPA has halved from 25 per cent.
Though voters feel the Modi government’s efforts in tackling poverty, inequality and corruption are below par, 55 per cent say it is better than the previous UPA, up 8 per cent from February. Only 15 per cent voters think the Modi government is worse than the UPA, the same as in February. The Congress should worry why the 27 per cent who said the NDA’s performance was the same as the UPA’s in February has dropped to 17 per cent in six months.
Forty per cent voters feel their status has improved under the NDA compared to the UPA era; only 10 per cent feel it has deteriorated, while 42 per cent say it is the same. However, when it comes to the Modi campaign slogan of ‘Achhe Din’, only 33 per cent say they are in the midst of that muchvaunted paradise, 7 per cent less than in February, while 35 per cent answer in the negative, a rise of 4 per cent from six months ago. ‘Achhe din’ is an aspiration that seems to elude the voters, while the voters’ current economic status is tangible.
The paradox of surging prime ministerial popularity despite voter discontent over perceived economic underperformance may not last. An incumbent government can come undone if people’s movements or Opposition unity combines with voter disenchantment. So far, the Opposition’s inability to organise protests against the NDA’s handling of the economy has worked for PM Modi. That could change unless the NDA starts addressing the root causes of voter disaffection—jobless growth, price rise, increasing inequality and corruption. The NDA government will be the final loser if it fails to grasp that the economy is the ultimate determinant of successful governance in the long run.
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