Two years into his term as prime minister, Narendra Modi’s approval rating remains high at 74%, a poll by instaVaani has found. This is based on a survey of 10,897 respondents across the country, who were polled using an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. While the approval rating of the government is also high, it remains lower than the prime minister’s approval rating—an artefact that has remained constant over the last few surveys.

The prime minister’s (and the government’s) popularity varies widely by state—from 84% in Assam (where the BJP has just come to power) to just 61% in Punjab (which goes to polls next year).

Inside PM Modi’s approval ratings

As part of this survey, InstaVaani conducted a ‘longitudinal’ experiment. About 1,400 respondents who had been polled in the approval survey in August last year were asked for their opinions once again.

About 12% (138 out of 1,160) of respondents who had earlier approved of the prime minister have changed their minds. On the other hand, 30% (70 out of 230) of respondents who had disapproved of the prime minister in august now approve of him. Overall, his approval rate has fallen from 84% to 79%, mirroring the fall in approval (from 79% to 74%) from August 2015 to May 2016.

Going by this data, it appears that while Narendra Modi has succeeded in converting a large proportion of detractors into supporters in the last nine months, he has also lost a significant number of his old supporters.

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