New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sworn in last month as India’s Prime Minister for the third straight term, may not have succeeded in leading BJP to a majority of its own in the recent Lok Sabha elections, but his popularity on social media remains unmatched.
On Sunday, Modi achieved a milestone that very few celebrities can boast of — a 100 million followers on social media platform X. He’s the second-most followed politician in the world, after former US President Barack Obama (131 million) and the most-followed global leader holding office currently.
As for his political rivals in India, the likes of Rahul Gandhi (26.4 million), Arvind Kejriwal (27.5 million), Akhilesh Yadav (19.9 million), Mamata Banerjee (7.4 million), Lalu Yadav (6.3 million), Tejashwi Yadav (5.2 million) don’t add up to 100 million.
Modi has more followers than sports stars like Virat Kohli (64.1 million), Neymar Jr (63.6 million) and LeBron James (52.9 million), and other popular global celebrities like Taylor Swift (95.3 million), Lady Gaga (83.1 million) and Kim Kardashian (75.2 million).
“A hundred million on X! Happy to be on this vibrant medium and cherish the discussion, debate, insights, people’s blessings, constructive criticism, and more. Looking forward to an equally engaging time in the future as well,” Modi wrote on X.
Modi’s followers have swollen by a mammoth 30 million in the last three years. He is active on YouTube and Instagram, too, where he has nearly 25 million subscribers and over 91 million followers, respectively.