Bangalore, Jul 3: The BJP mascot and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to have garnered more support and popularity than Rahul Gandhi in the race to become the next Prime Minister of India.

Well-known writer and socialite Chetan Bhagat in an article in The Economic Times claimed that Modi received more votes than Rahul Gandhi when he put a poll question in his Facebook page.

According to Mr Bhagat, total 10,000 people responded and cast their votes. While Rahul Gandhi received only 5 percent votes, 82 percent people showed their support to the Gujarat CM.

“Last week, just for fun, i ran a simple poll on my public Facebook page. The question i asked was simple. Who should be India’s PM? The choices were simple too – Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi and none of the above,” wrote Mr Bhagat.

Clarifying his own stand over the issue, the author of the bestseller Five Point Someone and many other novels added, “There was no intention to imply any bias. Over 10,000 votes were polled. Rahul Gandhi received 5% of the votes. Narendra Modi had 82%, beating the crown prince an astonishing  16 times; 13% of the voters wanted neither.”

However, it would not be too easy for Mr Modi to become the PM as he has to cross several hurdles which are creating ruckus in his way to become the prime ministerial candidate for NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2014.

Bihar CM and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar is one of them who oppose Modi. The Bihar CM felt the NDA should announce its prime ministerial candidate as early as possible for the 2014 polls although gave hint that he would not support BJP leader and Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, considered a front-runner for the post by various quarters.

Kumar, who stressed an earlier projection of the prime ministerial candidate, said during an interview that the desired candidate should be one who believed in secular and democratic values and did not display rough personal traits in an extreme diverse country like India. Kumar, however, ruled himself out of any reckoning to become the future PM of India. “I can not even dream of the high office,” he was heard saying.

Despite all such hurdles for Modi, the result of the poll (posted by Mr Bhagat) may become a nightmare for Rahul Gandhi. Despite his charm and popularity among youth, the general secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) failed in the recently held Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Critics also claim that people are losing faith on Rahul Gandhi.

Citing the present scenario, Mr Bhagat too raised few questions – “Rahul Gandhi is a far better known national brand, and is younger, better looking, suave and aspirational in some ways. Then why are the youth of this country not rooting for him? And if Modi is as much of a demon as some say, why do people vote for him? What has led to his rise? And more importantly, can he make the switch from ruling Gujarat and Cyber Pradesh to ruling the 28 states?”