#HappyBdayPMModi: Modi listicles, Whatsapp stickers and op-eds by Amit Shah

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 69 today, an event marked by hashtags, Whatsapp stickers, midnight celebrations and the release of hundreds of butterflies. The prime minister himself spent most of the morning performing a puja as part of the Namami Devi Narmada Mahotsav at the Sardar Sarovar dam, as 100 priests chanted prayers along the river.

The media offered a plethora of stories to mark the occasion. India Today, which gave us this gem yesterday about the PM’s prowess as a theatre artiste in his youth, followed it up with a story on how six-year-old Modi had volunteered for Congress events. There also a listicle of the prime minister’s fashion choices which “created a buzz”. For young parents, there’s a list of the PM’s inspiring quotes on raising children, and a collection of the most searched books on or by the prime minister.

TV channels weren’t far behind, as this thread shows.

Though India Today gets a special shout-out for this:

Not all coverage was marked by praise though: Indian Journalism Review pointed out that 11 newspapers offered up their editorial pages for pieces about Modi written by his colleagues, including Amit Shah and Prakash Javdekar.

Meanwhile, politicians, celebrities and journalists put aside their differences to tweet birthday wishes.