New Delhi, Jan 16 : As many as 59.22 per cent of people across India prefer Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister as compared to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whose approval rating is merely 25.62 per cent, as per the IANS C-Voter State of the Nation 2021 survey. According to the survey, in a two-horse race, Modi is most preferred for being the Prime Minister, way ahead of Rahul Gandhi. More than 80 per cent of the people in Orissa and Himachal Pradesh prefer Modi as the Prime Minister. Surprisingly, a high percentage of people in the northeastern states -- 75.68 per cent -- echo similar sentiment. On the other hand, the approval rating for Rahul Gandhi as the PM is extremely low with only 7.36 per cent preferring him in Odisha and a mere 10.20 per cent and 10.96 per cent backing him in Himachal Pradesh and northeastern states, respectively. However, the former Congress chief enjoys a high approval rating of 54.28 per cent in Kerala, from where he has been elected to the Lok Sabha, followed by Tamil Nadu at 48.26 per cent. In West Bengal, 62.19 per cent respondents prefer Modi as the PM, while 28.38 per cent back Rahul Gandhi. Modi is also popular in Jammu and Kashmir, where 46.74 per cent of people prefer him as the PM, while 34.15 per cent back Rahul Gandhi. In 10 states -- Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Maharasthra, Jharkhand and Bihar -- nearly 65 per cent of the people prefer Modi as the PM over Rahul Gandhi. In Delhi, 61.75 per cent of people back Modi as the PM while only 22.98 per cent prefer to see Rahul Gandhi in that post. In Telangana, 60.32 per cent of people prefer Modi as the PM. In Uttar Pradesh, 56.21 per cent of people prefer Modi as the PM, while 29.48 per cent back Rahul Gandhi. Surprisingly, in Punjab, the support for Modi and Rahul Gandhi is evenly split at 29.5 per cent. Barring Kerala and Tamil Nadu, no other state or Union Territory has preferred Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate in the two-horse race. Rahul Gandhi's approval rating in 15 states is below 25 per cent, while in four states it is below 20 per cent. The survey was carried out among over 30,000 respondents across the country, covering all the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. /IANS