CM approval, Aug vs Sept 2026: 5 of 7 Chief Ministers of key states lost approval. Karnataka's D.K. Shivakumar fell the most: 13.84 pts to 34.77%, a series low. Kerala's V.D. Satheesan was the highest of the seven. Mohan Yadav and Vijay Joseph are among the lowest.

Satisfaction with state governments in four states heading to polls, Sept 2026 (fully + somewhat satisfied): Goa: 95.2% Uttarakhand: 72.1% Uttar Pradesh: 59.0% Punjab: 50.9% Punjab's net satisfaction: +2.1 pts, the narrowest of the four.

Approval of Tamil Nadu CM Joseph Vijay among women, 2026: June: 53.6% Sept: 33.7% Women's net approval: +0.9 pts in July, -22.4 in August, -29.8 in September. Men's net approval in September: -19.3 pts. In June, women approved 11.6 pts more than men.

Kerala CM approval rose to 66.24% in the May-Aug 2026 wave, a series high. Disapproval: 32.89%. Approval rose 24.43 pts in one wave, from 41.81% in Jan-Apr 2026. V.D. Satheesan (CM since May 2026) starts 21.29 pts above Pinarayi Vijayan’s best reading.

BJP’s Assembly vote intention in West Bengal rose to 75.59% in September 2026, the highest since tracking began in May 2023. AITC: 14.71%. The 60.88-pt gap is the widest in either direction in the series. AITC has lost 54.94 pts since its October 2025 peak of 69.65%.

BJP’s lead over SP in Awadh region (UP) Assembly vote intention shrank to 1.68 pts in the May-Aug 2026 wave, from 23.46 pts in Jan-Apr. BJP: 45.82%. SP: 44.14%. SP and INC together: 50.57%, ahead of the BJP. Steepest swing: Misrikh PC, where the BJP fell from 73.61% to 43.21%.

PM Modi’s approval in Uttar Pradesh fell to 49.85% in the May-Aug 2026 wave, below 50% for the first time. Disapproval: 48.93%, a series high. Approval fell 14.73 pts in one wave, from 64.58% in Jan-Apr 2026. The approval-disapproval gap shrank from 31.35 pts to 0.92 pts.

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta's approval: 54.7% in Sept 2026, down from 69.2% in July. The decline came from women. July → Sept: Women: 68.3% → 50.1% Men: 72.1% → 75.2% In June, women approved 20.4 pts more than men. In Sept, they trailed by 25.1 pts.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's approval: 49.7% in August 2026, below the majority mark for the first time since February. It was 63.8% in June. By group, June → August: Sikh: 70.2% → 46.6% Hindu: 48.9% → 55.6% SC approval held between 56% and 67% this year.

UP-set: cracks in Yogi’s voter base Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath's approval fell to 51.7% in the May-Aug 2026 wave, from 63.6% in the previous wave, his lowest on record. Approval by group: SC: 52.1% → 36.1% OBC: 58.2% → 47.2% Upper caste: 82.1% → 71.2%

Madhya Pradesh CM approval fell to 57.3% in September 2026, the lowest in 25 months of tracking. Disapproval: 38.9%, a series high. Approval fell 13.0 pts in a month, from 70.3% in August. Mohan Yadav’s approval is down 23.2 pts from its April 2026 high of 80.5%.

Karnataka CM approval fell to 34.8% in September 2026, the lowest in 25 months of tracking. Disapproval: 64.6%. Approval fell 13.8 pts in a month, from 48.6% in August. Under D.K. Shivakumar (CM since June 2026), approval has not crossed 50% in any month.

BJP’s lead over INC in Madhya Pradesh Assembly vote preference fell to 21.7 pts in September 2026, the smallest since December 2023. BJP: 57.2%. INC: 35.5%. INC rose 6.2 pts in a month, from 29.3% in August. INC has gained every month since April 2026 (12.7%).

On handling protests, India's youth are politically divided Use force: 23.7% Ignore: 23.1% Negotiate: 21.4% Debate: 10.8% Accept demands: 21.1% Youngest (18-22) most in favour of using force (25.3%) and ignoring (25.6%). 23-30 year olds want to accept demands (24.3%)

Strong supporters of the central govt. believe protest should be met with force (25.3%) or ignored (28.9%). Strong detractors of govt. believe protesters’ demands should simply be accepted (28.7%). Neither believes in public debate (9.2% & 11.6% res.)

Would you tell others you took part in a protest? Women hedge, Men disclose Yes: 41.8% No: 25.8% Depends: 19.3% Never protest: 13.2% Men say yes more (47.4% vs 39.7%). But men and women say no at similar rates (26.4% vs 25.5%). Women say 'depends' more (20.7% vs 15.6%).

Should India have a dedicated public space for protest? (Sept 2026) Yes: 69.9% Protest should not be confined to it: 56.9% Protesters should not disturb the public: 63.7% At least 26.7% back a dedicated space and also reject confining protest to it.

Where do Indians get protest news? (Sept 2026) TV: 35.3% Social media: 30.2% Word of mouth: 13.7% MEN SCROLL, WOMEN WATCH Men lean on social media (35.6%) over TV (32.0%). Women lean on TV (36.4%) over social media (28.2%). Gender gap on all digital sources: 10.3 pts

Do protesters genuinely believe in their cause? 62% of Indians say yes (Sept 2026). Belief rises with household income: Up to ₹100K/yr: 52.4% ₹200K-₹1M: 61-62% ₹1M-₹1.5M: 69.5% Above ₹2M: 75.9% #CMIE #BeliefsBehaviour #Topicalsurvey #protests

Welcome to Beliefs & Behaviour by CMIE! We put numbers to what India’s electorate thinks and acts on issues social, cultural, and political. Built on CMIE’s nationwide 200,000+ household panel, the largest household panel in the country. Follow for our findings #CMIE