Narendra Modi won the most-exhaustive Lok Sabha election with a thumping majority in 2014. (Image: PTI)

Four years of Modi government: Narendra Modi won the most-exhaustive Lok Sabha election with a thumping majority in 2014, and even as his government is entering the final year of its five-year term, his popularity seems intact. A total of 57% Indians say that the Narendra Modi government has “either met or exceeded” their expectations in the last four years, a survey said.

A majority of Indians are particularly happy with Narendra Modi’s effort in improving India’s image globally, handling of Pakistan, fighting terrorism, infrastructure development and reducing tax harassment, a survey report by LocalCircles said. Around 28% citizens said the government has exceeded their expectations, which is a dramatic improvement when compared to 17% last year and 18% in 2016.

However, 29% Indians said that the government has met their expectations, which has fallen from 44% in 2017 and 46% in the year 2016. “This means that opinion about the government’s performance is more polarised now,” LocalCircles said.

Narendra Modi was sworn-in as the 15th Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014. During his tenure, Narendra Modi gained significant popularity due to his oratory skills and ‘Make In India’ pitch, asking investors to do business in India. He has often been ranked among the most popular leaders of the world, with the latest being the Forbes list where Narendra Modi was ranked 9th most powerful person in the world.

However, there was a little deterioration in the percentage of Indians believing that the government is on track to deliver the promises made in the pre-election manifesto. As against 59% in 2017, 56% Indians believe that the government will fulfil its election promises before 2019 elections.

“The expectations from political establishments or the ruling party among citizens deteriorates very fast. This expectation percentage is similar to the approval ratings for US Presidents and while it is falling every year, it is still in high digits for the Modi government,” the survey report said. The survey studied 1,75,000 votes from approximately 62,000 citizens in 250 districts of India.