4,399 days of Modi: Ministers and media join the aarti
India celebrated Modi’s 4,399 days in office with prayers and ads. Yet the milestone also highlights another record: nearly 12 years in power without a single open press conference in India where journalists could freely question the prime minister.
On June 10, India achieved what every civilisation secretly dreams of: day number 4,399.
This is not about GDP growth. Neither universal healthcare. Nor clean air. Not a World Cup either.
Just 4,399 days.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi overtook Jawaharlal Nehru’s record to become India’s longest-serving elected prime minister, the official machinery responded with havans, front-page advertisements, temple visits, editorials, television coverage, and celebratory content that could make a cricket World Cup victory look understated.
Newspapers marked the occasion with advertisements tucked beneath their mastheads. “12 saal vishwaas ke, vikas ke, jan-kalyan ke,” declared one, accompanied by a smiling farmer looking at his phone and a smiling prime minister. Readers were reminded of Rs 4.3 lakh crore under PM-Kisan, Rs 26 lakh crore worth of MSP procurement, Rs 2 lakh crore in crop insurance, and eight crore Kisan Credit Cards.
The news coverage followed. The Indian Express, for example, explained the arithmetic of history, noting that Modi’s 4,399th day edged past Nehru’s 4,398. A full page in Hindustan Times traced how Modi reshaped India’s political map. It carried a piece by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, on Modi’s mission to “expand welfare, opportunity, and access to essential services for all citizens”.
Editorial pages weighed the achievement. Some praised the government’s break from a stagnant status quo. Others gently suggested that the rise of polarisation and winner-takes-all politics might be worth worrying about between the congratulatory bouquets.
Outside newspaper offices, meanwhile, the gods were having a particularly busy day.
Across the country, BJP leaders organised special prayers and havans. At Delhi’s Jhandewalan Mandir, leaders gathered to offer thanks. In Chanakyapuri, more prayers were offered. In Bhopal, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav sought blessings from Mahakal, expressing the hope that Modi would become prime minister again. In Puri, prayers were offered at the Jagannath Temple. In Delh’'s Kishanganj, prayers were planned at the Ram Mandir.
One almost felt for the deities. Having already been petitioned for rain, jobs, exam results, marriages, cricket matches and election victories, they were now being informed about a statistical milestone.
Yet perhaps the most remarkable number attached to this anniversary was not 4,399. It was zero. That is the number of full-fledged press conferences in India at which Narendra Modi, as prime minister, has taken unscripted questions from journalists.
Over these 4,399 days, India has witnessed demonetisation, a pandemic, farm protests, communal violence, economic upheavals, military confrontations, constitutional changes, and countless elections. Through all of it, the prime minister has maintained the record of a clear lack of a free examination by the media at a press conference.
The closest the world came was during his 2023 visit to the White House, when a joint press conference was announced with President Joe Biden. White House officials reportedly described the prospect of Modi taking questions as a “big deal”.
When Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui asked about minority rights and free speech, Modi responded by invoking India’s Constitution. Siddiqui, meanwhile, was rewarded with a torrent of online abuse severe enough for the Biden administration to publicly condemn it.
In 2023, the government restricted a BBC documentary on Modi. One of the most chilling sections in one episode was an interview by BBC correspondent Jill McGivering with Modi in 2002. It concluded with this exchange. McGivering asked, “Do you think you should have done anything differently?” Modi responded: “Yes. One area where I was very, very weak. That was how to handle the media.”
Which makes this week’s celebrations faintly surreal.
There were advertisements about governance. Editorials and opeds and analytical pieces about leadership. Speeches about democracy. Prayers for continuity. Saturation coverage of a numerical milestone. But precious little discussion of the fact that India’s longest-serving elected prime minister has also presided over one of the longest stretches in democratic history without regularly subjecting himself to questions from the press.
Perhaps the next milestone deserves its own havan. Day 5,000. Or, more ambitiously, Question Number One.
Modi ji celebrates 4,399 uninterrupted days as Prime Minister! And we celebrate over 5,000 days of independent public interest journalism. Uninterrupted by any sarkari or corporate ads.