New Delhi. International publication ‘The Economist’ has said that generally elite people dislike globally popular leaders, but this is not the case with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his support seems to be increasing among educated voters. In an article titled ‘Why India’s elite support Narendra Modi’, the publication said, ‘Three factors – class politics, the economy, and the elite’s appreciation for strongman rule – help explain why. Why is it like this.’
Terming it the ‘Modi paradox’, ‘The Economist’ said that the Indian Prime Minister is often associated with right-wing populists like Donald Trump, but Modi is no ordinary strongman who is expected to win for the third time.
It noted, ‘In most places, support for anti-establishment populists like Trump and policies like Brexit are inversely related to university education. Not in India. Call it the Modi paradox. “This helps explain why he is the most popular leader of any major democracy today.”
Citing a Gallup survey, it said only 26 percent of US respondents with university education approved of Trump, while 50 percent of those with less education supported him. But Modi has broken this trend.
The article cited a Pew Research survey saying that 66 percent of Indians with no education beyond primary school level expressed a ‘very favorable’ opinion of Modi in 2017, but 80 percent of those with education above that. People told him their preferences.
After the 2019 general elections, a survey by Lokniti found that about 42 percent of Indians with degrees supported Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, while about 35 percent of those with only primary-school level education did so. .
The Economist also said that Modi’s success among the educated does not come at the cost of support among other groups. Nilanjan Sarkar, a political scientist at the Center for Policy Research, was quoted as saying that like other popular leaders, his biggest inroads have been made among the lower class voters.
Citing the economy as a key factor, the article said that India’s strong GDP growth, despite being unevenly distributed, is rapidly increasing the size and wealth of the Indian upper-middle class. It said Congress enjoyed strong support among the upper-middle class in the late 2000s, but the recession and a series of corruption scandals in the 2010s changed things.
The article said, ‘But Modi’s tenure has enhanced India’s economic and geopolitical position in the world.’ That said, at the same time, some people think that strongman rule is what India really needs. He pointed to the situation in China and East Asia, whose experience shows that strong governance can overcome obstacles to economic growth.
It said that the elite people feel that their support for Modi will continue until a credible alternative emerges. According to the article, most of the elite have lost confidence in the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi, who is considered dynastic and inaccessible.
It quoted an unnamed senior Congress leader as saying that PM Modi has ‘taken our best ideas’ such as distributing welfare payments digitally and ‘implemented them better’ than his party. The article concluded with the conclusion that ‘a strong opposition is perhaps the only thing that will induce India’s elite to abandon Modi. But at present, it does not seem to be happening anywhere.
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Tags: BJP, Loksabha Election 2024, Loksabha Elections, Narendra modi, Rahul Gandhi
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 30, 2024, 23:29 IST