New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder C Joseph Vijay has emerged as the third-most preferred choice for Prime Minister in the latest Mood of the Nation survey.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the preference list with 48.7%, followed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at 27.1%. Vijay secured 9.2% of the respondents’ support, placing him ahead of several established opposition leaders.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee received 2%, followed by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at 1.7%, CJP founder Abhijit Dipke at 1.3% and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal at 1.2%.
Vijay also performed strongly when respondents were asked who would be best suited to lead the Opposition alliance. He received 12.2%, behind Rahul Gandhi’s 29% but ahead of Mamata Banerjee, Kejriwal and Akhilesh Yadav.
The findings come amid growing calls within the TVK to project Vijay as a national leader for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Party leaders have recently spoken about the possibility of a future Prime Minister emerging from southern India.
The survey was conducted among 25,184 respondents between July 1 and August 25, with additional tracking interviews also included.