Public image of Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi, the 14th Prime Minister of India, has elicited a number of public perceptions regarding his personality and background.

This article is part of
a series about
Narendra Modi
Incumbent

Early political career

Premiership

National policy


Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video

Personal life

A vegetarian,[1][2] Modi is Hindu and is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party.Modi became a 'Pracharak' (missionary) of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in early 1970s. He is married but publicly acknowledged the marriage only in April 2014, shortly before the national elections that swept him to power.His spouse is Jashodaben; the couple has remained married, but estranged for more than fifty years.[3] He neglects his family, especially his mother, reportedly because of his duties a Prime Minister.[4][5] He is widely considered to be a workaholic and a spiritual man, as he has been seen meditating in the Himalayas and performing various yoga asanas.

As a communicator

one of the most striking feature about Narendra Modi and his government has been the use of Social media to directly communicate with the public. Adept at using social media, in September 2014 Modi became the second-most-followed leader in the world with 5 million Twitter subscribers.[6][7] Modi's 31 August 2012 post on Google Hangouts made him the first Indian politician to interact with netizens on live chat.[8][9] Modi was the second-most-followed leader in the world (with over 30 million followers on Twitter, as of June 2017[10] behind only Barack Obama.[6] For the 2014 elections, 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.[11]

The use of social media by Modi has been at the expense of traditional media such as Television and print media.He rarely gives interviews or holds a press conference.[12] Instead, in addition to social media, he likes to communicate directly with the people of India using periodic radio and TV broadcasts called Mann Ki Baat.[13][14][15]Modi has been called a controversial, polarising and divisive figure by many media sources.[16][17][18] 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.[19]

Fashion
God has gifted me the sense of mixing and matching colours. So I manage everything on my own. Since I’m God gifted I fit well in everything. I have no fashion designer but I’m happy to hear that I dress well.

Narendra Modi, in The Modi Effect by Lance Price[20][21]

Modi has been called a fashion leader in India, and his clothing choices have been discussed internationally.[22][23] Recognition of his sartorial style is a major part of his public image.[20] The type of vest regularly worn by Modi have become popular, and called as Modi Jackets.[24]

In January 2015 while receiving United States President Barack Obama in a state visit at the Hyderabad House, Modi wore a suit with his name embroidered repeatedly in the pinstripes.[25] The suit was gifted to him.[26] Modi's political opposition criticized his wearing the suit, complaining that he campaigns on an image of coming from a poor background and living without money while at the same time wearing luxury products such as this suit.[27] Other commentators said that in choosing this suit Modi was being a parvenu,[28] at the height of vanity,[27] going to a ridiculous extreme,[29] and political opposition party leader Jairam Ramesh said that he was a megalomaniac.[26] A month later the suit was auctioned for US$695,000. Journalist Siddharth Varadarajan commented on the public support for the auction by saying "the manner in which Mr. Modi's leadership has been projected is extremely unhealthy in any democratic society".[27] What was noticeable was that though Modi had not payed a penny for the suit material and also the making which was done free of cost by Jade Blue, he still managed to auction the suit for US$695,000 and contributed the entire amount for Clean Ganga project.

Modi's usual attire is a kurta and vest,[30] and his unusual half-sleeve kurta is known as the Modi Kurta.[31][32][33] The prime minister's clothes are made of silk or cotton, are crisply ironed and are handmade in Gujarat. When he was chief minister he wore bold, bright colours, changing to pastels as prime minister. For holidays, Modi wears a traditional turban from wherever he is.[30] Some of his clothing has been created by Bollywood fashion designer Troy Costa.[34][35]

In 2009, Modi's clothing was said to be Bollywoodesque and indicative of Gujarat's modernism.[36] According to Vogue India editor Priya Tanna in a New York Times blog, "Never before has there been such a strong convergence between what a politician in India stands for and his clothing." Tanna called his clothing choice "100% India": democratic, supportive of Indian industry (separating him from politicians in Western suits), emblematic of his humble birth, clean and hygienic.[32] Responding to Tanna, another commentator said that Modi's fashion choice has no particular meaning and there is no need to interpret it.[37]

Awards and recognitions

In a nationwide survey concerning Indian Chief Ministers, Modi was named Best Chief Minister in 2007 by India Today.[38] In March 2012 Modi appeared on the cover of the Asian edition of Time, one of the few Indian politicians to have done so,[39] and made the 2014 Time 100 list of the world's most influential people.[40] He has become the most followed Asian leader on Twitter,[41] and in 2014 was ranked the 15th-most-powerful person in the world by Forbes.[42] In 2015, Modi was one of Time's "30 most influential people on the internet" as the second-most-followed politician on Twitter and Facebook.[43] In 2015, Modi was ranked 5th on Forbes magazine's list of 'World's Greatest Leaders'.[44] In 2019, Time featured Modi on the cover story for their May issue, titled "India's Divider in Chief".

Modi has received various honours from other countries.[45][46]

Ratings

In November 2017, a survey of Pew Research Center showed Modi to be the "by far" most popular figure in Indian politics. In this survey Modi at 88% was ahead of Rahul Gandhi (58%), Sonia Gandhi (57%) and Arvind Kejriwal (39%).[47]

Notes
  1. Harding, Luke (18 August 2013). "Profile: Narendra Modi". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. "The Hawk in Flight". Outlook India. 24 December 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. CNN Library (12 September 2018), Narendra Modi: Fast Facts, CNN Quote: "Marriage: Jashodaben (Chimanlal) Modi (1968–present, separated); Entered into an arranged marriage as a teenager to Jashodaben Chimanlal. When he filed his nomination for prime minister, he was forced to acknowledge the marriage after almost 50 years of claiming to be single."
  4. Bodh, Anand (17 February 2014). "I am single, so best man to fight graft: Narendra Modi". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  5. "Jashodaben is my wife, Narendra Modi admits under oath". The Times of India. 10 April 2014. Archived from the original on 10 April 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  6. Sharma, Swati (25 June 2014). "White House losing Twitter war to India's Narendra Modi". Washington Post. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  7. "Modi's world second most followed politician on Twitter, Facebook". Times of India. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  8. "Narendra Modi on Google Hangout, Ajay Devgn to host event". The Times of India. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  9. "People ask, Narendra Modi answers on Google Plus Hangout". CNN-IBN. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  10. "Megyn Kelly asked Narendra Modi if he uses Twitter. His 30 million followers responded". The Washington Post. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  11. Swati Chaturvedi (2016). I Am a Troll: Inside the Secret World of the BJP's Digital Army. Juggernaut Books. p. 57. ISBN 978-93-86228-09-3.
  12. Plagemann, J. and Destradi, S., 2019. Populism and foreign policy: The case of India. Foreign Policy Analysis, 15(2), pp.283–301.
  13. "PM's first radio address 'Mann ki baat': Top 10 quotes", Rediff.com
  14. "Narendra Modi touches people through his Mann Ki Baat, leaves opposition squirming", Daily News and Analysis, 4 October 2014
  15. "Modi goes on AIR". The Hindu. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  16. Ramaseshan, Radhika (2 July 2013). "Boomerang warning in article on 'polarising' Modi". The Telegraph. Kolkata. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  17. Malik, Ashok (8 November 2012). "Popular but polarising: can Narendra Modi be PM?". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  18. Bajaj, Vikas (22 December 2012). "In India, a Dangerous and Divisive Technocrat". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  19. "India's prime minister focuses too much on appearances". The Economist. 2 November 2007.
  20. Wall Street Journal Staff (17 March 2015). "Modi Says His Fashion Sense Is a Gift From God". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  21. Price, Lance (24 March 2015). The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi's Campaign to Transform India. London: Quercus. ISBN 978-1623659387.
  22. Bhattacharya, Suryatapa; Seervai, Shanoor (8 August 2014). "Is Modi India's Best-Dressed Prime Minister Ever?". blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  23. Jenkins, P. Nash (6 June 2014). "India's New Prime Minister Is the Country's Latest Fashion Icon". time.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  24. "Three years and counting, Modi jackets remain hot favourites with consumers". Moneycontrol.
  25. Bhattacharya, Suryatapa (26 January 2015). "Narendra Modi's Suit and Its Message to Obama – India Real Time". blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  26. staff (29 January 2015). "India PM Narendra Modi's '1m-rupee name suit' criticised". bbc.com. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  27. McCarthy, Julie (20 February 2015). "Modi's Fancy Pinstripe Suit Lands $694,000 At Auction". npr.org. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  28. Nandy, Chandan (27 January 2015). "Modi's monogrammed suit: Rise of the narcissistic parvenu?". indiatimes.com. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  29. Zezima, Katie (26 January 2015). "Prime Minister Modi wore a suit that takes personalization to a ridiculous extreme". The Washington Post. Washington DC: WPC. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  30. Sharma, Swati (6 June 2014). "Here's what Narendra Modi's fashion says about his politics – The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Washington DC: WPC. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  31. Kidwai, Rasheed; Ramaseshan, Radhika (12 October 2009). "Nothing casual about it". telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  32. Friedman, Vanessa (3 June 2014). "Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India: A Leader Who Is What He Wears". runway.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  33. staff (26 September 2014). "Row over 'Modi kurta' label ends". indiatimes.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  34. Ahuja, Snigdha (1 August 2014). "Troy Costa: Meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new designer". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  35. Agence France-Presse (27 September 2014). "US gets an eyeful of new India as dapper Modi struts his stuff – The Nation". nationmultimedia.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  36. "Modi dons denims keeping pace with Gujarat – The Hindu". thehindu.com. 7 December 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  37. staff (10 June 2014). "Modi is what he wears: NYT's absurd interpretation of the PM's kurta". firstpost.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  38. "Making Up For Lost Time". India Today. 12 February 2007. Archived from the original on 13 February 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2007.
  39. "Why Narendra Modi is India's Most Loved and Loathed Politician". Time. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  40. Zakaria, Fareed (23 April 2014). "The 100 Most Influential People: Narendra Modi". Time. US. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  41. "Modi is Asia's most followed leader on Twitter". 11 July 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  42. "The World's Most Powerful People". Forbes. November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  43. "The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet". Time. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  44. "Narendra Modi and Kailash Satyarthi are world's greatest leaders, says Fortune Magazine". Business Insider. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  45. "PM honoured with Ghazi Amanullah Khan medal". news.webindia123.com.
  46. "Modi conferred highest Saudi civilian honour". Hindustan times. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  47. "PM Narendra Modi 'By Far' Most Popular Figure In Indian Politics: Pew Survey". Ndtv.com. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2018.

References
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