Excerpted with permission from Gujarat Under Modi: Laboratory of Today’s India by Christophe Jaffrelot (Hurst Publishers, February 2024). The text has been edited for clarity.
Narcissism, image-building and populism
The iconographic material on which Bharatiya Janata Party propaganda and the Gujarat state government’s communications were based portrayed Narendra Modi’s image constantly. This also reflected his narcissistic inclination. Indeed, Modi has a very high opinion of himself. When the journalist Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay asked why he was so good at conceiving original ideas, he responded: “I think it is probably a God-gifted ability.” This was perfectly in tune with his reference to himself as not fully present in the mundane, everyday world.
While he dedicated much energy to image-building, he acknowledged that there was only one Indian leader who could really be associated with a “brand”, and that was Mahatma Gandhi. To “brand” was so much part of his communication strategy that he resorted to the services of the actor and film producer Amitabh Bachchan to promote “Gujarat’s brand”. Indeed, in 2010, Bachchan was appointed “brand ambassador” for Gujarat to promote tourism through video clips.