A look at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public approval ratings ahead of the Gujarat polls

Whether the BJP will ride Modi's popularity to secure victories in Himachal and Gujarat remains to be seen

Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to top the global leaders list in terms of public approval, a fact that has prompted the BJP to tout the 72-year-old's popularity as a good omen for the upcoming elections in Modi's home state of Gujarat.

According to Morning Consult, which tracks public approval and disapproval ratings for global leaders within their own countries, Modi remained far ahead of global competition in terms of popularity on the domestic front.

With an approval rating of 77 per cent for the month of November, Modi was considerably more popular in his own country than the second-placed leader, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico.

A distant third was Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, followed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Swiss Confederation President Ignazio Cassis.

A noteworthy aspect of Modi's popularity in India is that it has remained largely consistent since the start of 2021, recording noticeable dips only in the May to August period of 2021.

Incidentally, Modi's dip in popularity in the aforementioned months in 2021 coincided with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India which was much more devastating than the first, with shortages of vaccines, oxygen cylinders, and hospital beds crippling attempts at providing adequate healthcare.

However, Modi's popularity recovered soon after the passing of the second wave, and even rose by a couple of percentage points after August 2022, possibly coinciding with increased political activity by the prime minister ahead of the state elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

Indeed, with the polls in Gujarat fast approaching, the BJP on Friday shared Modi's approval ratings in India, juxtaposed against those of other world leaders in their own countries, as a telltale sign of what the saffron party expects to pull off in the battleground western state — a resounding victory.

That being said, whether the BJP will ride Modi's popularity to secure victories in Gujarat and Himachal remains to be seen.