Question of polls: Do people vote against the PM, their MP or the party?

Despite some errors of judgement, Mr Modi is still very popular, so it is reasonable to expect that the negative vote in 2019 will be directed either towards the party or the MP

Tomorrow, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives his annual speech from Red Fort, millions will be wondering if he will be doing it next year also. Six months ago, it seemed a certainty. But now a very faint question mark is becoming visible in the electoral sky.
 
This leads me to something I have been wondering about for 22 years now. What triggered the question then was that I rang a well-known Member of Parliament to ask him to write a column for this newspaper.
 
He had just lost his seat and broke into a tirade about ungrateful