Amit Shah top choice to succeed PM Modi as BJP's prime ministerial candidate: MOTN survey

Home Minister Amit Shah is seen as the top choice to succeed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate over other senior BJP leaders like Yogi Adityanath and Nitin Gadkari, according to India Today's Mood of the Nation Survey. Twenty-five per cent of respondents backed Shah for the top job, higher than 19 per cent for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari is the third most favourable man for the Prime Ministerial job within the saffron party, with 13% of the votes, suggests the India Today Mood of the Nation Survey of August 2024.

Prime Minister Modi, who returned to power for the third consecutive term, will turn 75 next year. Many believe that this will be his last term before the baton is passed on to someone else. While Amit Shah seems natural successor, Yogi Adityanath's name also figure among serious contenders to succeed PM Modi.   

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan followed the three with around 5% of approval votes for him. 

Though Amit Shah leads in the survey, his 25% approval rating marks a decline from the previous MOTN surveys in February 2024 and August 2023.

In the last two surveys, 28% and 29% of people had chosen Amit Shah among BJP leaders to succeed the PM. 

The August 2024 edition of the India Today Mood of the Nation Survey also revealed that more than 31% of respondents from South India believe that Amit Shah is the best candidate to succeed PM Modi as the BJP's candidate for prime ministership. Amit Shah's 31% approval rating in South India is the highest among all regions, compared to 25% support nationwide.

Like in the case of Shah, the percentage of people backing Yogi Adityanath to succeed PM Modi has also declined. Yogi's support dropped from 25% in August 2023 to 24% in February 2024, with only around 19% of survey respondents now seeing him as a suitable successor to PM Modi within the BJP.

About 13% of respondents picked Nitin Gadkari as a potential option.

The August 2024 India Today Mood of the Nation Survey indicates that Rajnath Singh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan have gained popularity as potential successors to Prime Minister Modi. 

While Singh has gained around 1.2 percentage points since August 2024, the former MP CM has seen a significant jump, rising from 2.9% in August 2023 to 5.4% in the latest survey.