The perception can still be defeated by performance

Perception is always more consequential, pertinent and meaningful than Performance. Perception is built on today’s available, visible and relevant ground realities. It is possible that the comprehension of the ground realities be faulty and given shape through propaganda. But whatever be the degree of its accuracy, it does leave its impact on the public thinking.
Performance on the other hand is a long-term phenomenon. You have to wait till the last over—even the last ball.
And people in the street are not known for their patience. They want things to happen fast. They are also under the influence of the hostile propaganda.
It is not to say that those who had voted IK into power on the tidal wave of expectations, have all suffered a fall into disillusionment because of the failure of the Government’s perception-managers or of lack of any visible advances in any area. But the hard core PTI supporters are given very little substance to counter the disillusionment-offensive launched by the hostile forces. The wall-sitters have certainly tilted towards the narrative that IK is getting caught up in a whirlpool of dangerous self-contradictions. If the overall share of the PTI votes was around 30% and of the hard core opponents also 30%, the remaining 40% matter more now than they mattered at the time of the polling.
The fact is that IK is the kind of leader who can carve his way through even the most hostile of circumstances. The perception can still be defeated by performance but this cannot happen without timely decisions to rectify the damage caused by faulty starts.