Narendra Modi, the 14th prime minister of India since 2014, has elicited a number of public perceptions regarding his personality, image, background and policies.
Modi started his public career in the Hindu nationalist RSS in the 1970s as a "pracharak". He was deputed by the RSS to their political arm, the BJP in the 1980s. Modi's skills at organizing successful political campaigns saw him rising in the party hierarchy through the 1990s in his native state of Gujarat. He served as the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014. The beginning of his tenure as the chief minister saw the sectarian riots of 2002, and the subsequent visa ban by many foreign governments. His overall tenure as chief minister saw faster economic development in Gujarat relative to other Indian states. This gave him the moniker, "Vikas Purush" or "development man".
Elections in India to the Loksabha since 2014 Indian general election have been fought with Modi at the center of the campaigns. Modi has served as the prime minister of India since 2014.
Scholars and biographers have described Modi's personality as energetic, eccentric, arrogant and charismatic. Modi has received consistently high approval ratings during his premiership. He has consistently topped in the list of most popular leaders in surveys done in the leaders' own countries. Similarly he has received criticism for his divisive politics and misleading statements.
The BJP for its national and regional election in the last ten years has used Modi as the central figure of their campaigns. Modi has long used multimedia communications technology and public relations strategies to cultivate his image.These include the use of social media, government media outlets, and a careful control over his appearances.
Perception through the years.
Journalist Ashis Nandy, who is also a trained psychologist, was one of the first to interview Modi when the latter was an RSS pracharak (missionary) at the height of the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign in the early 1990s. At that time in Modi, he found "a classic, clinical case of a fascist".
Soon after becoming the chief minister of Gujarat, the state was convulsed by sectarian riots in 2002.The complicity of Modi's government in the pogrom against the Muslim minorities made Modi a pariah for many years. The United States and many European countries imposed visa bans on Modi after the riots. These remained in force for many years and were lifted shortly before he became prime minister in 2014
After the Gujarat riots, Modi embarked on a strategy to make the state a friendly place to set up business and rebrand his image from being a Hindu hardliner to a development oriented leader. This led to him being dubbed as Vikaspurush (Development man). This was the main theme during his successful campaign in 2014.
In September 2013 Modi was named the BJP's candidate for prime minister ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Several BJP leaders initially expressed opposition to Modi's candidature, including BJP founding member L. K. Advani. Contrary to the strategies used by the party during previous elections, Modi played the dominant role in the BJP's presidential style election campaign. The 2014 election campaign was the first time he declared that he was married but had remained estranged from his wife, Jashodaben almost from the beginning of their married life. Upon the disclosure, lawsuits were filed against him for forging previous election documents as against prescribed rules of the Representation of the People Act.
Modi has for years presented himself as an able administrator with an eye for detail. But his reputation as a vigilant administrator started to lose its shine in 2016 when his demonetisation policy caused distress to millions of Indians who largely relied on cash. Some critics termed this as "Tughlakifarman" (Tughlak's diktat) after Mohammed Tughlaq, the 14th century erratic sultan of Delhi. His reputation took a further hit in March 2020 when he imposed a complete lockdown in the country at four hours notice to stop the spread of COVID-19. This led to millions losing their jobs and many lost their lives. The Indian economy also shrunk in percentage terms by double digit numbers, although he received high approval ratings for his COVID-19 response in 2020. However by May 2021, his ratings had sharply fallen to 63% during the second COVID-19 wave, the lowest since 2019, according to an US firm that had been tracking his ratings since. For foreign observers, his nationalist impulses are always paired with a sense of technocratic competence. But according to Christopher Clary, assistant professor of political science at the State University of New York, technocratic competence was entirely missing from his response to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India in early 2021.
Right at the beginning of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, Modi set up the PM CARES Fund with himself, and his senior cabinet colleagues, namely the ministers of defence, home, and finance as the trustees of the fund. The Government of India had initially claimed that the fund is a private fund, and denied that the PM CARES Fund is a public fund for the purposes of transparency laws such as the Right to Information Act 2005, even though the Fund uses government infrastructure and the national emblem of the Government of India. The total amount of funds donated and the names of donors have not been publicly disclosed, and the fund is privately audited. The lack of transparency and accountability has been continuously criticized.– In December 2020, the Government of India reversed its stance and admitted that the PM CARES Fund was a public fund, but still refused to disclose information regarding it under the Right to Information Act 2005. Modi was criticized for hiding out of view when the deadly second wave of Covid hit India in April 2021 which the WHO estimates caused 4.7 million deaths. A report by the Center for Global Development also indicated that excess deaths in India could be up to 4.9 million during the second COVID-19 wave. Modi observers have noted that he has a tendency to shy away from bad news when faced with a turmoil.
Although India is a parliamentary democracy, Modi has a penchant for passing laws with minimum or no debate in the two houses of Parliament. The controversial farm reform laws were passed with less than three hours of debate in either house in September 2020. After a year long protests, Modi in November 2021 repealed the laws in three minutes in the Lok Sabha and nine minutes in the Rajya Sabha. In both cases, without any discussion.
Modi has often used a messianic tone in his speeches such as saying that his leadership qualities came from God. His latest claim to divinity was during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when he said that while his mother was alive, he believed that he was born biologically but after her death he got convinced that God had sent him.
Communication strategies.
Modi has been an early adopter of communication technology since his days as the chief minister of Gujarat.In 2007 he hired Washington based APCO, one of the largest PR and lobbying firms in the world to help with his communication strategy. Modi has used multiple strategies to build up his image. These include use of Social media, government media outlets, a distinct attire, and be front and centre of Indian public life. Also he rarely gives interviews or holds a press conference. The machinery for this works also includes ad makers, speechwriters and assorted spinners managing Modi's image and campaigns. During his years in power as the prime minister, Modi has made it sure that his images appear everywhere including on billboards, newspaper and TV advertisements, and vaccine certificates. Modi's picture on the government issued Covid vaccine certificate has riled many people in India. In criticizing it, Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal demanded Modi's picture to be on death certificates too. Modi also uses a messianic tone in his speeches such as saying that his leadership qualities came from God.
Inauguration ceremonies.
Since becoming prime minister, Modi and his team has made sure that he presides over all the important public events such as the inauguration of the new Indian parliament building, the ground breaking ceremony of the Ayodhya temple, the opening of a new corridor going towards the Kashi Vishwanath temple and the installation of the statue of Lord Ram in the newly built Ayodhya temple. He also flags off all the new services of the high speed "Vande Bharat" trains. He has faced criticism from the opposition for violating the protocol by opening the new parliament complex himself rather than by the president of India, the highest executive of the country. Many religious figures stayed away from the opening of the Ayodhya temple because construction was not complete at the time of the consecration, and therefore against Hindu scriptures in their opinion.
Social media.
One of the main strategies used by Narendra Modi and his government has been the extensive use of Social media to directly communicate with the public. In September 2014 Modi became the second-most-followed leader in the world with 5 million Twitter followers. Modi's 31 August 2012 post on the, now defunct, Google Hangouts made him the first Indian politician to interact with the public on live chat. Modi was the second-most-followed leader in the world (with over 30 million followers on Twitter, as of June 2017 behind only Barack Obama. For the 2014 elections, The BJP's National Digital Operations Centre (NDOC) led a group of volunteers for the social media campaign. The volunteers were charged with trolling and attacking mainstream journalists considered unfavorable to Modi. The group was headed by Arvind Gupta. Gupta joined the team in 2009 and for 2014 election campaign, he was in charge of websites, uploading videos of rallies and meetings, distributing them to media houses, and posting comments and releases and trolling opponents online.
As of July, 2024, Modi is the most-followed world leader and head of government on Instagram, with over 91 millions followers. His instagram account is the 42th most followed account on the platform. In July 2024, Modi became the most followed world leader on X (Twitter) with 100 millions followers. Owner of X, Elon Musk congratulated him.
There has been concern over misinformation and fake news being spread on social media platforms, particularly on WhatsApp, by the BJP under Modi.
Mann ki Baat.
Modi's use of social media has been at the expense of traditional media such as Television and print media. Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has also been hosting a monthly monologue called Mann Ki Baat on the government owned All India radio and Doordarshan. His supporters applaud the use of an old fashioned medium like radio to promote positive social causes while his detractors call it another propaganda tactic by Modi to reach out to millions of people untouched by the internet.
Mainstream Media.
Modi has been called a controversial, polarising and divisive figure by many media sources. There are reports that Modi and his government are highly anxious to avoid negative media attention. Journalists and public figures have lost their jobs following criticism of Modi. In January 2023, the Modi led Indian government ordered YouTube and Twitter to block links to a BBC documentary critical of Modi's handling of 2002 Gujarat riots. Modi rarely gave interviews in his 10 years as prime minister. On occasions he did, pliant journalists typically allowed him to project himself as the leader of a flourishing democracy. The journalists who ended up talking to him adopted an uncritical approach and they seldom questioned him on issues of national importance and, instead, cheerleading him and his policies. Modi changed his policy on media interviews during the 2024 Loka Sabha campaign where he granted nearly 70 interviews to friendly media outlets. Critics claimed that this may have been done in order to stem his waning popularity. Choosing the media outlets have been easier since Modi came to power because most of these outlets are now owned corporations that rely on government patronage
Selfie booths.
Since 2022, one of the new strategies adopted by the BJP government has been to install selfie booths, showcasing the country’s development with large cut-out images of Modi, at public places such as Railway stations, defence establishments, and colleges. Opposition leader, Mallikarjun Kharge has criticized this waste of public money and Modi's self-obsession.
Personal appearance.
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