PM’s approval slides but Rahul’s not picking up

The approval rating of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dropped around 17 points in over a month but there is still no good news for the Congress as satisfaction of voters with Rahul Gandhi has not shown any sign of improvements, according to the latest findings of CVOTER-IANS tracker.

In an all India survey carried out on April 18 with a sample size of 11,074, the net satisfaction level with the Prime Minister had dropped to 46.92 − a drop of 16.55 − from the peak in his popularity witnessed on March 7 when the net satisfaction level with him was 63.47.

The voters were asked if they were “very satisfied”, “satisfied to some extent” and “not satisfied with the PM at all”.

On April 18, in the second phase of polling, 50.65 per cent respondents said they were very much satisfied with Modi, while 26.13 per cent said they were not satisfied at all.

But on March 7, 55.72 per cent of respondents had said they were very satisfied and only 17 per cent then said they were not happy with him.

Modi had gained from the air strike on Balakot terrorist camp on February 26. But there has been a constant decline since.

On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi has struggled to get numbers in his favour as net satisfaction level with him was only 6.82 on April 18. Only 25.78 per cent said they are very much satisfied with Congress president but 40.64 said they were not satisfied at all.

His net satisfaction rating has remained below 10 points since February 28 and showing no improvement.

Meanwhile, two days after joining the BJP and being fielded for Lok Sabha polls, 2008 Malegaon bomb blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur on Friday said then Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare had died during the 26/11 terror attack because of her “curse”, triggering a major outcry following which she apologized.

Thakur, who is out on bail after serving over nine years in jail in connection with the September 29, 2008 blast in Maharashtra’s Malegaon in which six people were killed and nearly 100 injured, recounted at a public meeting here the episode of her arrest and interrogation in the case.

The 48-year-old, who has a long association with the Sangh Parivar, claimed that when she was in a Mumbai jail, the head of the probe had called Karkare and said that she should be released as there was “no evidence” against her.

“Then Karkare asked me various questions and I replied ‘God knows’. At this, Karkare asked whether he would have to go to the God to get the answers. Then, I told him that he would be destroyed and he was cursed... within a month and a half, he fell victim to the terrorists’ bullets,” said Thakur who has been fielded by the BJP from Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.

Karkare was killed on the night of November 26, 2008 when 10 terrorists from Pakistan struck Mumbai at various places.

“Hindus believe that a period of one and a half month after anyone’s birth or death is of ritual impurity. When Karkare asked me these questions, this period started for him and ended with him being killed by the terrorists,” said Thakur, who was born in Bhind area of Madhya Pradesh.

The comments triggered a major outcry, with parties like the Congress, AAP and AIMIM, besides the Indian Police Service Association, condemning her remarks.

Amid the outrage, the BJP also distanced itself from Thakur’s comments.

In the evening, Thakur said, “It was my personal pain. I take back my statement and apologise.” She said she was taking back her remarks as she “felt that the enemies of the country are being benefited” from it.

She said Karkare was a “martyr” who died from the bullets of terrorists from the enemy country.

Earlier, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, while condemning the comments, demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and action against her.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh lashed out at Sadhvi Pragya for insulting a decorated dead police officer and accused her of dragging the current nationalism discourse to a new low.

In a hard-hitting reaction to the “sickening and repulsive” comment, he said: “That woman cannot be sane. No person in their sane mind can think or talk like that, and that too about a police officer who sacrificed his life for the nation.”

Indo-Asian News Service