NEW DELHI: Despite serious hurdles in the form of NRC-related agitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity in the country remains intact. A C-Voter survey conducted across the country to gauge the public pulse, Modi received support from 66 per cent of people. Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik is once again the most popular among the chief ministers. Andhra Pradesh’s young and dynamic chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy breaks into the top 5 league of best-performing chief ministers within his very first year in power.

In what would be heartening news for the Bharatiya Janata Party rank and file across the country, the survey put the prime minister against former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Modi comes out as a clear winner. Out of the total number of people surveyed, 66.2 per cent gave thumbs up to the prime minister while only 23.21 per cent favoured Rahul Gandhi. About 58.36 per cent of people of all the surveyed were “very satisfied” with Modi’s performance as the prime minister. In contrast, 24.04 per cent of people said that they were “satisfied to some extent” and the rest 16.71 per cent people disapproved of the tall leader, stating they were “not at all satisfied” with him.

Even as his popularity remained intact across the country, Modi failed to cut much ice with the populace of two southern states. Tamil Nadu is one of them where only 32.89 per cent voted for him while Kerala had only 32.15 per cent of its surveyed people supporting him.

In the best chief minister’s category, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik emerged at the top once again but only after a close contest with Bhupesh Bhagel and Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan. But the most fascinating result of the survey is that of Andhra Pradesh’s young chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy who broke into the Top 5 elite of best performing chief ministers in his very first year in office.

YS Jagan, who scripted a historic victory around a year ago, stands at Number 4 in the list of best performing chief ministers. Right behind him in the Top 5 is Maharashtra’s Uddhav Thackeray who assumed office only seven months ago.

The C-Voter survey, which was conducted based on the government decisions and policies besides their performance, showed that 78.1 per cent of people gave their support to YS Jagan and endorsed his relentless efforts for the all-round welfare of the people of Andhra Pradesh. In a significant observation, the survey cited the spree of welfare measures initiated by YS Jagan within the very first year of assuming power in Andhra Pradesh as the reason for his popularity.