'Manmohan’s popularity dips; Rahul most preferred for PM'

Once the darling of the middle class, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is fast losing ground as a popular leader. Into the second term at the helm of the UPA, the leader with a difference is no more perceived as the squeaky clean leader he was seven years ago — the slew of corruption charges against the government, obviously, have done the damage.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, is still getting it right with the masses despite sharp criticism from several quarters for his populist position on different issues.

According to a CNN-IBN national survey, the results of which were out today, Singh has lost much of his goodwill and Rahul has no challengers in the Congress. Of the 18,000 people surveyed, 42 percent favoured the latter as the Prime Minister among other UPA leaders. As many as 34 percent of the respondents felt he should replace Singh immediately. Only 22 percent felt Singh should continue in the post.

It’s a big comedown for Manmohan Singh. The survey report does not surprise. Of late, he has lost a lot on the credibility front. The developments — right from the 2G spectrum scandal to the CWG mess to the CVC PJ Thomas issue — suggest that he is not in control of the ministry he heads, not even of his own office.

The numbers tell the story. Seven percent of traditional Congress voters feel he is corrupt, 31  percent feel he has been ineffective in controlling corruption and just 22 percent want him to continue in office.

He has made himself more and more redundant in the Congress scheme of things by not making forceful intervention in serious issues. To make matters worse, he is no more seen to be the reformer he was. The government is virtually in paralysis on the reforms front and as things stand now he neither represents the middle class aspirations nor the poor.

Rahul scores heavily on the trust front. As many as 54 percent of the respondents find him genuine in his concern for the poor. Pitched against politicians of the BJP, the Gandhi scion fared well. He found favour with 19 percent while BJP leader Narendra Modi emerged his closest NDA rival with support of five percent of respondents.

Rahul’s 19 percent support, however, does not come across as a big ‘yes’ vote for him; it could only be construed as a vote of no confidence for the BJP leaders. It is apparent from the survey that he has not made himself acceptable to a large section of people.

However, the saving grace for him is he has jumped three-fold — from six percent in 2009 — in popular choice as Prime Minister in the last two years. The Prime Minister and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi lag behind him. Manmohan Singh’s popularity has dipped from 18 percent in 2009 to 10 percent now.

Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram were the second and third choices as Prime Minister after Rahul. The opposition BJP, however, has not gained from the Prime Minister’s loss. No opposition leader records double digits in the survey as favourite of people. Among BJP’s leaders Modi is way ahead of nearest competitor Sushma Swaraj.

The poll was conducted in 19 states, with the sample fairly representative of India’s demography.