Similarly, voters do not think that the PM has allowed himself to be unduly pressured by the Left parties; more voters see this as a legitimate consultation with an ally rather than blackmail tactics.

But there is one real piece of bad news for the PM in the survey. When the respondents were quizzed about the PM’s handling of some specific issues, he came up for serious criticism. No, it is not his mysterious silence on reservations that the people are unhappy about. On balance, his approach on reservation is approved by the people. His government’s handling of terrorism is not approved. It should be noted that the survey took place within a few days of the Mumbai blasts and may have been affected by it. The anxiety on this score was more pronounced in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi that have witnessed terrorist incidents.

Ironically, the most serious indictment of the economist prime minister comes on his handling of the economy. The survey shows a strong disapproval of his handling of the farmers’ suicides, which can be seen as an unease with the agrarian policy. The most severe indictment comes on “price rise.”

As many as 56% of the respondents hold his policies in this regard to be a failure, compared to only 17% who think he has been a success. The politician in Singh knows that when the aam admi talks of “price rise” he is not talking about what the economists call “inflation” which is low in India by international standards.

... contd.