"India is an exception. A majority frankly adores the prime minister, Narendra Modi," the candid observation comes in an article in London-based 'The Guardian'. And it will be interesting to talk around this statement because the article otherwise deals .....
.... with "Disenchantment with democracy and dissatisfaction with political leaders".
The piece by Simon Tisdall deals with "plummeting approval ratings" of most western leaders across US and Europe. Look how the story goes:
BJP supporters scream and celebrate and not without good reasons.
"Intense negativity characterises European and, to a lesser degree, North American political sentiment.
In France, 90% of people questioned by Ipsos believed their country is on the wrong track.
In Britain, it was 79%;
in Germany, 77%; in the US, 60%. Europeans feel similarly glum about the bigger, global picture...".
Well, one can say overall it's a grim situation. All political or global news is now interpreted through the 'refractive' lens of Failings by top leaders.
The piece by Simon says more -- "Pessimism about politics is the new normal among the peoples of the west.
Major conflicts in Europe and the Middle East and the harms caused by right-left extremism, stagnating economies, inequality, corruption, terrorism, racism ..... and the climate crisis make for shared nightmares."
The problem one understands is complex. And it is because no one would agree that these 'self-virtuous' western countries are overtly misgoverned.
The worse is -- nobody else is promising anything radically different.
In March this year -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi was once again ranked the world’s most popular leader, securing a 68% approval rating in the latest global survey conducted by US-based data analytics firm Morning Consult.
The survey, carried out between March 2 and 8, showed Modi maintaining a significant lead over other global leaders.
Switzerland’s President Guy Parmelin and South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung were in second position, both with 62% approval ratings.
Leaders from the Czech Republic and Argentina followed after them.
There is another Guardian article titled: "Ungovernable country? Why Britain keeps losing prime ministers".
I find this more provocative. Around 1947; the Britons used to challenge India to 'run' the country. They believed India would be 'ungovernable'.
But circa 2026 -- 79 years after they left Indian shore - the headline itself has turned on the "white" men and women.
The second piece by Tom Clark states the obvious:
"They were times in which prime ministers seemed to be on their way out as soon as they’d arrived. The big strategic decisions the country faced were ducked or postponed.
The public finances repeatedly wobbled, yet efforts to rationalise the tax system faltered in the face of vested interests, including farmers. Reforms to social security were trumpeted before being diluted.
The whole business of politics was animated by rancour and rivalry, rather than practical action. All the while, populists waited in the wings."
Come to think of it - the west is suffering. The leadership 'demerits' in general sense have been especially exposed during the ongoing Iran war.
Now look at this puzzle.
Pew Research Center polling in 25 countries in 2025 found that the US, Russia and China are seen, by most but not all, as the biggest international threats.
For Turks, for example, Israel is the main menace; for Greeks, it’s the Turks.
It gets more confusing still. Canada is one of several countries in which majorities regard the US as both the main threat and main ally.
Now coming to Indian context enough has been written about the fact that the outcome of polls in West Bengal was by far the most consequential of the results.
In the west, analysts did not waste time to draw conclusion that the BJP is "walking the trails" of religious polarisation and leveraging underlying anti-incumbency to win.
Hope they had also analysed the 'improved' scale of governance offered by the Modi Sarkar notwithstanding the challenges. Closer home in Uttar Pradesh -the simple law and order situation has improved to the 'level' of Sea change as against the goonda-raj of Samajwadi Party.
The BJP's victory in West Bengal marks a dramatic shift in a state long seen as resistant to the saffron party's rise. But the outcome there is also linked to nationalism and national security.
The elements in Bangladesh are unnerved; and this only shows how important the battle for West Bengal was.
Finally challenges remain.
Feeling depressed about the state of the world? Worried about the future? Who says, You are alone ??
ends
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