Earlier in the year, a businessman from the West was meeting with the A-listers of Mumbai’s business world , a dozen or so of the top industrialists. The visitor asked how many of those present thought the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre led by prime minister Narendra Modi is doing a good job. Two hands went up. Then he asked how many thought it wasn’t doing well.This time no one raised their hands. Clearly, the majority among the business people were happy sitting on the fence. Or, worse, they were unwilling to or were uneasy about expressing their opinion in public. That spell of silence was broken pretty spectacularly earlier this week when Adi Godrej , chairman of the diversified Godrej Group, spoke out on how right-wing and electoral compulsions are hurting the economy. “Some of the things are affecting growth, for example, the ban on beef in some states. (This) is clearly affecting agriculture, affecting rural growth,” Godrej told The Indian Express . “Prohibition is bad for the economy ,” added the face of the conglomerate that has a consumer products arm focused on rural growth, a meat joint venture with Tyson Foods of the US (not beef, though), and a retail venture that offers, among other products, wines, cold cuts, meats and cheese.If Godrej is an exception in India Inc to say it as he sees it, on social media it is a totally different story, with opinions, outrage and comments just a tweet away. ET Magazine partnered with big data firm MavenMagnet — like it did a year ago — to gauge the online verdict on two years of the Modi government. MavenMagnet uses tools to trawl the internet, seeking out public conversations on social media, blogs and news sites, identifying triggers or topics that get people talking and then measuring the buzz around these triggers. This year the study has considered more than 15,000 conversations between June 1, 2015, and April 20, 2016, among more than 13,000 participants to come up with its findings.The conversations have been harvested looking around 10 triggers (see Top 10 Triggers ). The study reveals a clear shift in perception about the government in its second year. A year ago, the survey showed a 48% net positive buzz for the Modi government on its first anniversary. This year the buzz around the government has turned to an 8% net negative. The study shows that while 46% of the conversations included in the survey this year had a positive buzz, the ones with negative buzz made up 54%. In 2015, this split between positive and negative was 74:26 (48% net positive). Admiration for the prime minister’s vision and penchant for hard work persists in the public imagination, but impatience at a lack of tangible proof of achhe din (good days) shows up strongly.

Impatient for Results

Industrialist Harsh Goenka, who believes Narendra Modi is the best thing that could happen to India at this point, hits the nail on the head when he says: “I believe achhe din is near. But a lot more has to be done in terms of execution to make it happen.” Ritu Ghuwalewala, managing partner of MavenMagnet, explains the shift by suggesting that after the huge build-up of expectation in 2015, the perception could travel only in one direction — down. “While the first year had a sense of euphoria all around, the second year was a reality check for the Modi government.The Indian public realised that there is no magic wand to fix the country’s problems. This led to negativity around key parameters of trust, respect and hope (see The Response to Modi Sarkar ). Among the 10 triggers, seven show a net negative vibe. Vibes are net negative when the number of conversations with negative vibes exceed those with a positive one. Make in India and the auctions of spectrum and coal-mining rights have gathered most of the positives vibes for the government.

The biggest negative vibes have been noted around conversations on intolerance, which include issues like award wapsi, the JNU incident and the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, and the suicide of University of Hyderabad scholar Rohith Vemula. The vibes around the Union budget too are in the negative. The Union budget gets brickbats for not doing enough for the middle class (who are at the heart of social media), a clear thumbs down for the reluctance of finance minister Arun Jaitley to announce any income tax sops. It gets brownie points on financial inclusion and in helping the rural sector while it attracts negative buzz around inflation and taxation. The Swachh Bharat campaign and the related 0.5% cess levied on all taxable services suffer for promising the moon and delivering less. The government does not fare well on corruption and accountability with negative buzz predominating these parameters.

Almost one-fifth of all conversations are on corruption (13% negative, 6% positive) and almost a fourth is on accountability (18% negative and 6% positive). While unfulfilled promises have hurt the government on accountability, it has not been able to shake off the concerns on crony capitalism, something the government says it has. Even economic strategy, the second highest discussed consideration factor (33%), had 18% conversations with negative buzz and 15% with a positive tone. Harsh Neotia, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry ( Ficci ) and chairman of the Ambuja Neotia Group, is impressed with the emphasis on infrastructure, roads and railways. He faults the government in two broad areas. Firstly, in not being able to create a more friendly tax regimen, which he sees as “adversarial and sometimes aggressive”.Secondly, in ease of doing business where, Neotia says, India is still way behind even though the government is in the right direction. Chandrajit Banerjee, directorgeneral of industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), says the government must do more to spur domestic demand. “In addition to reforms, government must augment capital expenditure on key projects in sectors like roads, railways, irrigation, power and other infrastructure sectors to provide a fillip to domestic demand.”

Modi Aura Intact

The leadership ability of Narendra Modi still fires the imagination. Around 38% of all conversations (the highest among all consideration factors) touched upon the prime minister’s leadership, with a little over half of these being of a positive nature. The PM also scores well on “vision” but takes a beating on the “authenticity” front. While he is praised for his ability to put in hard work, the perceived tendency to make promises on issues without having concrete deliverables in sight has come in for criticism. Elimination of corruption has been one of the key thrusts of the government.Godrej told ET Magazine that he feels crony capitalism and corruption at high places have ebbed. The study, though, suggests a mixed record for Modi Sarkar on the corruption front: The positivity is led by initiatives to rein in black money and conduct auctions for coal and spectrum allocation; yet, the perception that key ministers are keen to promote the interests of industrialist “friends” mars the record on the corruption front. For a quick look at the positive (in green), neutral or mixed (in orange) and negative (in red) online perceptions of Modi Sarkar, see the word cloud alongside.