Narendra Modi

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About

Narendra Modi is an Indian politician and the two-time Prime Minister of India serving since the year 2014 under the banner of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Modi and his affiliated political party's views have been described as conservative and Hindu nationalist, and he has received consistently high approval ratings in India. Modi has also been the subject of various memes, including his visits to Switzerland and the US, his friendship with ex-Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and various viral soundbites and images.

Career

Modi began his career as a politician through his work with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organization. He was appointed to his role as a BJP politician by the RSS in 1985 and he held several positions within the BJP party's hierarchy for the following years. He served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat and has been accused of being complicit in the 2002 Gujarat riots. He became the Prime Minister of India in 2014 and was re-elected in 2019.^[1]

On February 24th, 2020, LastWeekTonight's official YouTube^[2] channel posted a video of John Oliver discussing Modi's rise to power, gathering over 13 million views in nearly three years (seen below).

Online History

The BJP party under Modi's leadership has been notable for its use of social media and technology to garner popular support.^[3] ^[4] Counter-campaigns like "Main Bhi Chowkidar" (transl: "I too am a watchman") have been dubbed as wildly successful grassroots movements by the BJP, while also being called guerilla marketing by competing parties.^[5]

On March 29th, 2019, Twitter^[6] user @manakgupta posted an image showing the popularity of the "Main Bhi Chowkidar" campaign, gathering over 2,000 likes in over three years (seen below, left). On March 18th, 2019, Congressman Shashi Tharoor tweeted^[7] a comic criticizing the campaign, gathering over 7,000 likes in over three years (seen below, right).

Modi's U.S. Visit

In September 2021, Modi visited the U.S. as part of a campaign to strengthen bilateral ties between the countries. Images from his visit went viral on Twitter after they became the subject of various memes. On September 23, 2021, Twitter^[8] user @shibhhuu posted a meme featuring photos of Modi, gathering over 14,000 likes in over a year (seen below, left). Also on September 23rd, Twitter^[9] user @coolfunnytshirt posted a meme featuring Kamala Harris and Modi and referencing the "We Did It, Joe" meme. The tweet gathered over 11,000 likes in over a year (seen below, right).

Narendra Modi In The Snow

Narendra Modi In The Snow refers to a series of photoshopped images of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi standing amidst the snow in Switzerland. The images went viral in January 2018.

Modi Saying "Big Data, Machine Learning Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence"

Modi Saying Big Data, Machine Learning Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence refers to a viral video of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at the conference, and saying a string of tech buzzwords. The video became fodder for various memes in India.