NEW DELHI: While the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains high despite serving the country for nearly seven years, speculations have begun as to who can replace him after he demits office in 2024.
Though a large number of Indians still want PM Narendra Modi to continue even after his second term in office, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath are the other two names that are being considered as a possible replacement for the iconic leader.
According to a recent survey conducted by a leading news channel, a large number of respondents think that both Shah and Adityanath have the potential and the charisma to lead the country in case PM Modi refuses to run for the top job due to health and age issues.
According to the survey, PM Narendra Modi's popularity remains intact even today despite several controversial issues like demonetisation, CAA, NRC, and most recently the farmers' protest etc. Nearly 38 per cent of the people still prefer him as the next Prime Minister. No other name from the BJP comes anywhere close to PM Modi. Among all the top names doing the rounds, UP CM Yogi Adityanath is the next top choice for the PM’s post.
Nearly 10 percent of people have expressed faith in Yogi Adityanath and preferred him as their top choice for the post of Prime Minister. At the same time, around eight per cent of people would like to see the country's Home Minister Amit Shah as the next Prime Minister.
Another interesting aspect of this survey is that Yogi Adityanath has been named the ''most trusted CM'' of the country. Adityanath is closely followed by Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who is just next to him in popularity.
During the survey, the respondents were also asked to rate their top favourites who can replace Prime Minister Narendra Modi in BJP. 30 per cent of them chose Home Minister Amit Shah, who is considered very close to PM Modi and known for his strong organisational skills and political acumen
At the same time, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, who is very famous for his ‘Hindutva’ image, came second with the support of 21 per cent of people.
The finding of this survey is likely to raise an alarm in the Congress party. During the survey, names of top Congress leaders were also suggested to the respondents as a possible replacement for PM Modi. However, no one from the Congress camp came in the top three slots, which went to the BJP.
While PM Modi remained the most preferred PM, he was followed by Yogi Adityanath and Amit Shah. Only seven percent of the people, who were surveyed, approved Rahul Gandhi's name as the next Prime Minister of the country.
At the same time, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal received the support of five per cent people for the post of the PM.
