Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese to watch the 4th Test between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, where Modi was felicitated by Jay Shah with a photo of Modi, and the entire episode sparked a variety of reactions on social media.
Since the 2014 NaMo era, the BJP and its supporters have left no stone unturned in establishing PM Modi as a brand image, and the BCCI Secretary giving Narendra Modi a photo frame with the PM’s solo photo on it got called out by Twitterati, some of whom claimed that “narcissism runs deep in saffron emperor.”
In fact, in the same stadium, when the Indian PM took his Australian counterpart through the Hall of Fame, Albanese was seen appreciating photos of cricketing greats from the two countries, which were juxtaposed against a background showing the smiling face of PM Modi.
While detractors called out what they saw as sheer narcissism, the PM's backers came out in support of Modi, with one user raising questions about how former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi got awarded the Bharat Ratna while she was PM.
The name of the Gandhi family came up several times in response to tweets criticising PM Modi, and many of Modi's supporters pointed out how members of the Gandhi family had etched their names into government projects, buildings, and roads, among others.
Amid this sparring between Modi's supporters and detractors, neutral observers wondered whether the entire episode had been the result of a goof-up.
While the gift from Jay Shah was surely one of a kind, this is not the first time Modi has posed with his face/name around him.
When Modi met former US president Barack Obama in 2015 in Hyderabad he donned a royal blue ‘bandhgala’ suit that had ‘Narendra Damodardas Modi’ monogrammed over it. It is safe to say PM Modi's meeting with Obama had his name written all over—his suit.
Later, that suit was auctioned off for over Rs 4 crore, making its entry into the Guinness Book of Records for being the most expensive piece of clothing being sold at an auction. The money derived was subsequently provided to the PM’s campaign to clean the River Ganga.