The celebrations marked the beginning of month-long celebrations under what the BJP is calling the "Seva Sankalp Abhiyan" to mark Modi’s birthday and 25 years of his public life.
While Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta conducted a puja in the national capital, Union home minister Amit Shah made his way to Gujarat’s Vadnagar where he did aarti along with Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel.
The state BJP office also inaugurated a life-size wax statue of Modi unveiled by state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya.
In Gujarat, Shah also flagged off the Vadnagar to Varanasi bike rally that is part of the BJP’s 14-module programme for the next month to mark Modi’s birthday.
Modi’s 76th birthday also comes amid a troubling succession question within the BJP itself.
From full-page newspaper advertisements, to chief ministers and Union ministers holding elaborate prayer services, the celebrations accounted little of the toughest questions that Modi’s governance has faced in 12 years.
From full-page newspaper advertisements, to chief ministers and Union ministers holding elaborate prayer services, the celebrations accounted little of the toughest questions that Modi’s governance has faced in 12 years.
New Delhi: In 2013, less than a year before he became prime minister, Narendra Modi said that he never celebrates his birthdays, calling it a day on which he does not take any calls or meet anyone. A year later, just months after becoming prime minister for the first time, as devastating floods struck Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar, Modi once again struck a sombre note and issued a “humble request” by saying “do not celebrate my birthday” and instead “dedicate yourselves towards relief work in J&K through your time & resources.”
Twelve years later, Modi in his third term as prime minister appeared to have forgotten his earlier statements and appeals as he turned 76 on Thursday (September 17), as his birthday celebrations, always grand for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), took on an unprecedented nationwide scale. Such was the grandeur of celebrations to mark his birthday, 25 years of his public life and “good governance” that no mention was made of the fact that only two months ago for the first time a Union minister was forced to resign under sustained public pressure and nationwide youth-led protests against irregularities in competitive examinations.
Or that just last month, both Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah sat out the entire monsoon session of parliament amid opposition calls for a statement on the use of brute force including pellet guns on protesters in July. Neither was any mention made of the fact that just five months ago, the Modi government faced its first defeat in 12 years in parliament when a Constitution amendment bill it brought for its contentious women’s reservation linked Lok Sabha expansion plan was defeated. Or that facing rising questions from the public on the state of education, a controversial new “tax” on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transactions amid rising inflation, up to 100% tariffs from the US, the Modi government has yet to bring its controversial legislations to parliament despite engineering defections to boost its numbers in parliament.
The party and the state subsumed together to become one
From full-page newspaper advertisements, to chief ministers and Union ministers holding elaborate prayer services, life-size wax statues being inaugurated, school children celebrating, to Modi himself praising his party’s campaign of Aashirvad Ka Diya which saw elaborate light and diya display programmes as each BJP chief minister sought to outdo the other – the Prime Minister’s birthday on Thursday saw the party and the state subsumed together to become one. The celebrations marked the beginning of month-long celebrations under what the BJP is calling the "Seva Sankalp Abhiyan" to mark Modi’s birthday and 25 years of his public life.
The day began with the morning newspapers opening with jackets of full page advertisements wishing Modi. Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde’s ad, a Shiv Sena tribute to Modi calling him “the longest-serving Prime Minister of India elected by people” and recipient of “highest civilian awards of 36 nations” appeared on the jacket of five newspapers. This included Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala and The Times of India.
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The Indian Express too had a front page jacket by a Haryana BJP karyakarta Ashok Singh Jaunapuria that wished a happy birthday to the “the leader who puts Bharat above all.” The paper also included Shinde’s ad, as well as two separate ads wishing Modi in the inside pages. While in the Times of India, Shinde’s ad appeared after two Samsung advertisements on the first two pages.
While Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta conducted a puja in the national capital, Union home minister Amit Shah made his way to Gujarat’s Vadnagar where he did aarti along with Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel. In Uttar Pradesh, chief minister Adityanath was accompanied by his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union food processing minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJP(RV)) chief Chirag Paswan in conducting prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
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In West Bengal, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said September 17 will be celebrated annually as “Annapurna Diwas” to mark Modi’s Annapurna Yojana, without mentioning that the scheme was a flagship programme by the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government under which cash benefits were given to women and had only been rechristened as Annapurna Yojana under the new government. The state BJP office also inaugurated a life-size wax statue of Modi unveiled by state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya.
In neighbouring Bihar, ravaged by floods, in which over 49 lakh people have been affected, chief minister Samrat Chaudhary oversaw an elaborate lamp lighting event to mark Ashirvad Ka Diya programme on Patna’s Marine Drive.
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In Madhya Pradesh, where over 25 Adivasi children have died in the state’s Balaghat in the last three months, an elaborate light and sound show was organised in Ujjain attended by chief minister Mohan Yadav and BJP president Nitin Nabin.
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In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, not to be outdone, chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai announced late on Thursday that state capital Raipur had entered the Golden Book of World record by lighting 25 lakh lamps to mark Modi’s birthday.
In Gujarat, Shah also flagged off the Vadnagar to Varanasi bike rally that is part of the BJP’s 14-module programme for the next month to mark Modi’s birthday. The Wire has previously reported that the modules will include emotional street theatre, maha yagyas, school children’s participation, influencer visits to 'transformative' project sites and a gathering of 1.25 lakh public representatives to mark 25 years of Modi's public service on taxpayers' dime.
Modi’s governance faces toughest questions in 12 years
The celebrations come just months after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan was forced to resign as the youth-led protests spread nationwide against exam irregularities. This was the first time that Modi faced sustained public anger that forced him to not only oust a minister but order a rehaul of the BJP’s long prided communication strategy, bring in a new IT cell after its longstanding chief Amit Malviya failed to curtail the outpouring of youth anger on social media.
Modi’s 76th birthday also comes amid a troubling succession question within the BJP itself. Over the last year, questions have been raised over whether Modi will continue in office as he surpassed the 75-year yardstick that was applied to other BJP veterans like L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha.
Shah, long seen as Modi’s natural successor, is facing widespread public scrutiny after the Delhi Police, which operates under his direct control, unleashed brute force on protesters in the national capital on July 20. The opposition succeeded for the first time to put Shah on the backfoot, as the home minister, the prime mover and defender of government business sat out the monsoon session of parliament last month. He is yet to make a public statement on the police action used on protesters.
The youth protests are also weighing heavy as the BJP approaches the Uttar Pradesh elections next year. The elections in the country’s most populous state are considered as the precursor to the Lok Sabha elections, where Adityanath is already eying a third straight term.
While Modi at 76, is attempting to woo the youth, whether it is through Instagram reels where he addresses them as “friends” or taking a swipe at leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi by calling him “naraz fufa” (angry uncle), troubling questions remain.
Combined with the punishing effect of unequal growth, despite the government’s celebration of high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, rising inflation, and the government’s move to impose yet another charge, this time on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000, and glaring governance failures seen in crumbling infrastructure as recently as in Delhi’s Satya Niketan, to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s ongoing campaign of showing dilapidated government schools under School Thik Karo, as well as the US government’s move to impose up to 100% tariffs on India as sanctions for buying Russian oil – all this has raised some of the toughest questions that Modi’s governance has faced in 12 years even as his party remains in pole position in Indian politics.
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