Public image of Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi, the 14th Prime Minister of India since 2014, has elicited a number of public perceptions regarding his personality, image, background and policies.

Modi started his public career in the Hindu nationalist RSS in the 1970s as a pracharak. He was deputed by the RSS to their political arm, the BJP in the 1980s. Modi's skills at organizing successful political campaigns saw him rising in the party hierarchy through the 1990s in his native state of Gujarat. He served as the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014. The beginning of his tenure as the chief minister saw the sectarian riots of 2002, and the subsequent visa ban by many foreign governments. His overall tenure as chief minister saw faster economic development in Gujarat relative to other Indian states. This gave him the moniker, "Vikas Purush" or "development man". Elections in India to the Loksabha since 2014 Indian general election have been fought with Modi at the center of the campaigns. Modi has served as the prime minister of India since 2014. Despite having a penchant for announcing policies or policy changes at short notices that has caused harm, he remains the most popular politician in India.

Scholars and biographers have described Modi's personality as energetic, eccentric, arrogant and charismatic. Modi has received consistently high approval ratings during his premiership. He has consistently topped in the list of most popular and influential global leaders in the world in surveys done in the leaders' respective countries.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The BJP for its national and regional election campaigns in the last ten years has had Modi as the central figure. Modi has long used multimedia communications technology and public relations strategies to cultivate his image. These include the use of social media, government media outlets, and careful control over his appearances.