Modi’s rating falls as India reels from Covid
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's approval ratings have fallen to a new low, two surveys showed, as the country struggles to contain a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Modi, who swept to power in 2014 and was re-elected in 2019 with the biggest majority of any Indian politician in three decades, has long fostered the image of a powerful nationalist leader.
But India's Covid-19 caseload surged past 25 million this week, exposing a lack of preparation and eroding Modi's support base, according to US data intelligence company Morning Consult's tracker of a dozen global leaders.
Modi's overall ratings this week stand at 63%, his lowest since the US firm began tracking his popularity in August 2019. The big decline happened in April when his net approval dropped 22 points.
Another survey by Indian polling agency CVOTER found the number of respondents "very much satisfied" with Modi's performance had dropped to 37% from around 65% a year ago.
Despite the slide in his approval ratings, Modi remains the country's most popular politician.
Meanwhile, a chain of private laboratories yesterday said nearly two-thirds of people tested in India have shown exposure to Covid-19, indicating a runaway spread of the virus as the daily death toll rose to a record 4,529.
India reported 267,334 new daily infections on Wednesday, taking its tally to 25.5 million, the world's second highest after the United States, with a death toll of 283,248, health ministry data showed.
Only the United States has had a worse single day death toll, when it lost 5,444 people on Feb. 12, a Reuters tracker shows.
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