NEW DELHI: Among Scheduled Castes and Muslims, Rahul Gandhi is a more popular choice for the PM's post than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an India Today Political Stock Exchange poll shows.

However, the poll shows Modi is far more popular overall with support from 52 per cent of respondents, compared to 33 per cent for the Congress president.

Forty-four per cent of Scheduled Caste voters prefer Rahul Gandhi, while 41 per cent want Narendra Modi to return as prime minister. The PSE poll shows support for Rahul Gandhi among SCs has risen by 10 per cent since January, while it has fallen by six per cent for Modi.

Sixty-one per cent of Muslims want Rahul Gandhi to be prime minister, up from 57 per cent in January.

Eighteen per cent of Muslims picked Modi -- an increase of 1 per cent compared to January.

India will hold a Lok Sabha election in seven stages between April 11 and March 23 -- the date on which votes will be counted.

The last voting day is May 19.