Women And Youth Breaking Caste Divide, Backing Modi: Rajdeep Sardesai

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to return to power, if the exit polls are to be believed.

That can be attributed to support from women and youth voters, who came in large numbers to support the Modi movement, Rajdeep Sardesai, consulting editor at India Today Group, told BloombergQuint in an interaction a day after the exit polls were released.

“Mr Modi's popularity among women voters is higher than... among men,” Sardesai said. A fairly large turnout of women voters was witnessed in key states during the general election, he said, adding that the two demographics have risen above the traditional class and caste divides.

Sanjay Pugalia, editorial director at Quintillion Media, said the opposition failed to rise to the occasion. Mr Modi and his machine was in the space age, while the opposition was fighting in the stone age, he said.

Modi Versus Who?

Both Sardesai and Pugalia said that the voter sentiment has changed, with different polling trends for assembly and general elections.

“The general election is becoming presidential or quasi-presidential,” Sardesai said, adding that the current prime minister had been successful in changing the direction of people's thoughts by asking “Modi versus Who?”

Pugalia agreed. “All opposition parties put together couldn't counter that narrative at all.”

Watch the full interview with Rajdeep Sardesai and Sanjay Pugalia here: