National Approval Ratings: Narendra Modi head and shoulders above Rahul Gandhi as people's choice to be next Prime Minister, shows CVoter survey

Republic TV, in association with CVoter, has come up with another edition of the National Approval Ratings, though, this time around, the mood of the nation when it comes to the two top candidates for the Prime Minister post - Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi - is being examined.

The survey tries to examine the popularity index of the present PM and the Congress president from the start of the Budget 2019 - February 1 - to March 7 and how they fare against each other.

It can be figured out that PM Modi enjoys far more popularity than Rahul Gandhi, though, much of it has come post the IAF air strike in Balakot, Pakistan.

Initially, at the start of the survey, PM Modi received the backing of 53 percent of the sample of 4506 people to be elected as the next Prime Minister of India. His closest competitor was Rahul Gandhi, for whom 36.2 percent people voted, while 6.6 percent felt neither of them should become the next PM and 4.2 percent couldn't make up their mind.

• Narendra Modi: 53%          
• Rahul Gandhi: 36.2%        
• Total Sample: 4506

Though, the figures show huge shift when examined on March 7. Out of the 5079 people who were part of the sample, 64.3 percent of them felt the PM Modi should return to power. As for the Congress president, only 26.6 percent votes were in his favor. The other 9.1 voters either felt someone else should take the throne of the PM, or had no opinion on this matter.

• Narendra Modi: 64.3%                
• Rahul Gandhi: 26.6%      
• Total Sample: 5079

PM Modi led Rahul Gandhi by 16.8 percent in the popularity index at the time of budget. But on March 7, the gap had significantly increased to a whopping 37.7 percent. And figures show much of it has been after Balakot airstroke.

Till the day of the attack in Pakistan, PM Modi held a 24.4 percent lead over the Congress president. But in the space of nine days, that gap has gone up by an incredible 13.3 percent, more than a 50% increase.

READ: National Approval Ratings: Modi Wave Back In 2019? PM's Popularity In Major Upswing Since Pro-poor Budget - Skyrockets After Pro-India Airstrike

From these figures, it is quite evident that with the elections coming closer, PM Modi is increasing his advantage over Rahul Gandhi with every passing day. Further, the IAF airstrike has only the widened the difference between the BJP and Congress' PM candidates.