Brand Modi gets a boost as Indian PM turns 71 amid BJP’s mass adulation campaign

The prime minister’s birthday bash will be spread over three weeks and involve him receiving 50 million ‘thank you’ postcards

Analysts say the efforts are a rebranding attempt before polls in February, with a local columnist comparing it to the glorification received by Kim Jong-un

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Modi speaks to supporters during a campaign rally in April. Photo: TNS

Published: 4:54pm, 16 Sep 2021Updated: 11:41pm, 16 Sep 2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday bash is going to be spectacular. It will be spread over three weeks, involve 50 million “thank you” postcards, and have Modi’s image splashed on hoardings, food rations for the poor, and buildings all over India.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is going to town on two anniversaries: Modi turns 71 on Friday, and will mark 20 years in public life – following his election as chief minister of Gujarat two decades ago – on October 7 when the birthday campaign comes to a close.

The 50 million postcards will be sent to Modi by BJP workers thanking him for his work for the poor, including Covid-19 vaccinations, while some 140 million packages of free food with his face emblazoned on them will be distributed to the needy at dedicated centres – where video clips bearing messages of gratitude will play on a loop.

Hoardings and posters will bear similar salutations, while BJP members will gather to make token efforts to “clean” the holy Ganges river – which, despite India’s various bids to do so over the past 40 years, remains polluted – at 71 spots in the state of Utter Pradesh.

The theme of the tributes, the BJP said, would be how Modi had steered the country through various challenges through his “service and sacrifice”.

As it is, Modi’s picture is already on every single vaccine certificate, and most public buildings bear it prominently, too.

In recent weeks, his close colleague, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, has ordered hundreds of posters thanking Modi to be pasted around the state, along with full page advertisements in newspapers.