Ambedkar had once warned against hero worship as a ‘sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship’, but Modi’s birthday blitzkrieg paid no heed to such caution as it took an unprecedented scale.
“The God Almighty himself has sent Modiji as an avatar purush to lead our motherland to become the greatest nation on earth”; “It is my deepest wish that Modiji should serve when independent India turns 100”; “Your energy at the age of 75 even beats young people like us”; “Architect of New India”. These are some of the words that industrialist Mukesh Ambani, actor Shahrukh Khan and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde respectively used on Wednesday, September 17, to describe Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 75th birthday.
While Modi’s birthdays have been accompanied by fanfare from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders in the past, the scale of the celebrations on his milestone birthday was unprecedented today as a concerted attempt was seen to flip the speculation around his retirement.
This is amid speculation that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP will apply the 75-year yardstick for retirement to the prime minister in his 11th year in office, as the pretext of age had earlier been applied to other veterans like L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha.
In his last speech in the constituent assembly in 1949, B.R. Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, had cautioned against hero worship for the maintenance of democracy and said that in India, it plays a part unlike in any other country.
“For in India, Bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship, plays a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship,” he said.
September 17 saw a manifestation of the very hero worship that Ambedkar had cautioned against on an unprecedented scale to celebrate Modi’s 75th.
From newspapers to politicians, sportspersons, celebrities, industrialists, private companies, educational institutions and exhibitions, one and all came out to participate in the blitzkrieg of Modi’s birthday celebrations.
Newspaper ads
The Delhi edition of The Indian Express included a full front page ad of wishing Modi on his birthday from Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, calling him the “Architect of New India”, along with images of the prime minister over the years.
Delhi editions of The Times of India, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, The Hindu also opened with front page ads by Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta wishing Modi on his birthday and listing his achievements.
Private companies like Dalmia Bharat also provided full page ads wishing Modi, while BJP leaders like Satish Lohia and Sanjay Kakade, also greeted the prime minister in newspaper ads.
The News Minute has reported that among the English newspapers, The Times of India led with 16 ads wishing Modi on his birthday, followed by The Indian Express with 10, Hindustan Times with nine, and The Hindu with three.
Politicians offer prayers
In addition, the Delhi government has also launched a Seva Sankalp Walk to celebrate Modi’s birthday, in which the chief minister herself was seen celebrating.
In Bihar, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri prayed for Modi’s good health at Takhat Sri Harmandir Ji in Patna Sahib, while BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain offered his prayers at the Nizamuddin Dargah in New Delhi.
MoS defence Sanjay Seth performed a havan, while BJP MP Sambit Patra said that the people of Puri had joined him in performing Jagannath aarti.
On Wednesday evening, Union minister and BJP president J.P. Nadda also inaugurated an exhibition in New Delhi to celebrate Modi’s life.
Video messages from industrialists, film stars, sportspersons
Not just politicians, industry leaders including Mukesh Ambani posted video messages wishing Modi and said, it is “not a coincidence that Modi ji’s Amrit Mahotsav is coming in Bharat’s Amrit Kal.”
Filmstars including Shahrukh Khan praised Modi’s journey from humble beginnings to the post of the prime minister, while Aamir Khan said that his contributions towards India’s development will be remembered.
Video greetings were also offered by sportspersons including cricketer Mohammad Siraj.
Music label T-series launched a song called Vandaniya Hai Desh Mera to commemorate Modi’s birthday, to celebrate the “vision, dedication, and leadership” of the prime minister.
#MyModiStory and Vishwanathan Anand’s gaffe
While Union ministers and BJP leaders posted video messages with the hashtag #MyModiStory, chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand inadvertently exposed the chinks in the orchestrated fanfare around Modi’s birthday. Anand faced ridicule for allegedly copy pasting a message received from the BJP IT cell after his #MyModiStory post on X included “Vishwanathan Anand ji” at the top. Anand later deleted that post and re-posted it.
Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha referred to an instance six years ago when he was on a BJP-affiliated WhatsApp group where coordinated tweets and messages were sent.
“That was 6 years ago. Nothing has changed. All the coordinated tweets on Modi’s 75th birthday today follow the exact same strategy, only now expanded to a much larger base,” he said.
The scale of celebrations was visible on Wednesday as several television journalists, sportspersons, actors also joined in with their stories on interacting with Modi with the hashtag #MyModiStory.
This included Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu, actor R. Madhavan, Nagarjuna, founder director of Kotak Mahindra Bank Uday Kotak , Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Aditya Birla group among others.
Television journalists like Megha Prasad and Anjana Om Kashyap also joined the #MyModiStory with video posts greeting Modi.
Educational institutions
Earlier on Tuesday, a circular from Delhi Public School was doing rounds on social media, which instructed parents and students to prepare greeting cards, e-cards or short video messages in honour of Modi’s birthday.
The ministry of education, meanwhile, has asked the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) to issue directions to their schools to screen Chalo Jeete Hain, a film inspired by childhood incidents from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s life, The Indian Express has reported.
Government spending on ads
In August 2023, the Union government told parliament that a total of Rs 408.46 crore was spent on government advertisements between 2022-23 through print, electronic media and outdoor publicity.
Last month, the TMC cited government data to allege an 84% rise in the Union government’s advertising expenditure between 2020-21 and 2024-25. On August 8, in the Rajya Sabha, TMC leader Derek O’Brien had sought details on the government’s spending on ads and publicity campaigns across newspapers and television over the past five years.
The government in its reply pointed to the Central Bureau of Communication (CBC), which places advertisements on behalf of various ministries and departments. Details of the expenditure are available on the CBC’s website, www.davp.nic.in.
The TMC did its own analysis and said that the total ad spend from 2020-21 to August 2025 was Rs 2,320.14 crore.
Also Read: Of Narendra Modi, Gujarat And Rahul Gandhi: The Vulgarity Of Speech https://www.vibesofindia.com/of-narendra-modi-gujarat-and-rahul-gandhi-the-vulgarity-of-speech/
