New Delhi, Sept 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has topped the leadership survey conducted online by Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), the organisation headed by poll strategist Prashant Kishor.

The survey was launched by I-PAC in July, providing the netizens to choose a leader whom they prefer to be the Prime Minister post 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Modi, the incumbent PM, is the preferred choice of 48 per cent among the 57 lakh survey participants. Congress president Rahul Gandhi emerged a distant second with 11.2 per cent votes, followed by AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was voted by 9.3 per cent.

The fourth on the list is Samajwadi Party chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, voed by 7 per cent. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (4.2 per cent) and BSP supremo Mayawati (3.1 per cent) emerged as the fifth and sixth most preferred choice.

BJD chief and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury received less than 2 per cent votes.

Ahead of conducting the survey, I-PAC said it would approach the leader who received the highest votes and offer to lead his poll campaign in 2019.

Notably, I-PAC chief Kishor designed the prime ministerial campaign of Narendra Modi, whose success was unprecedented. Shortly after the Lok Sabha polls, however, Kishor fallout with the BJP and jumped ship to the JD(U), followed by the Congress.

Following the rout of Congress in UP assembly polls, where the party registered its worst ever performance, the two sides cordially parted ways.

Rumours are rife that Kishor may end up landing back in the Congress camp. Meanwhile, reports claimed that Rahul Gandhi is considering to rope in Harvard Professor Steve Jarding, a public policy expert, as his campaign in-charge for 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 04, 2018 05:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).