Popular but not all-powerful

Narendra Modi's overwhelming popularity hasn't translated seamlessly into total power

Is India headed for a period of fractured Centre-state and inter-state relations because of our bitter and contentious politics? It may not seem so if we just look at the central reality of a prime minister with Narendra Modi’s popularity and power ruling in New Delhi. But then some facts, data emerge to raise the red flag.

See the latest India Today Mood of the Nation poll, for example. On the surface, it’s humdrum, definitely compared to the last one that pointed to growing popular stress and a steep decline in Mr Modi’s popularity to just 24 per cent.

There,