Do we like Narendra Modi?
Our score: 3 out of 10. Decades at the top and real policy reach, but a documented run of divisive rhetoric and opposition to marriage equality, with little independent good to set against it.
Modi was sworn in as Gujarat's Chief Minister on 7 October 2001, and this month the BJP threw a string of rallies to mark 25 years in office since. After the 2024 election his alliance won 293 seats, enough for a third straight term as Prime Minister. Few leaders anywhere have held power this long, so every question about him is a question about a huge slice of humanity.
The shadow over his early career is the 2002 Gujarat riots, which happened on his watch as Chief Minister. A Special Investigation Team gave him a clean chit, and in June 2022 India's Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to that finding brought by the widow of a former Congress MP. So the legal answer is that no court has held him responsible, though plenty of critics still argue about his role.
On harm, the big flashpoint is the 21 April 2024 rally in Banswara, where he said a Congress government would distribute wealth “to the infiltrators” and to those with more kids. BOOM's fact-check found the speech did refer to Muslims, even though Modi later told News18 he had not mentioned Muslims or Hindus. His government's 2019 citizenship law was also described by critics as a violation of India's secular constitution, while he said it did not affect Indians of any faith.
For an LGBTQ+ reader, the record is cold. His government argued in the Supreme Court that marriage is between a man and a woman, and the court left same-sex marriage to Parliament in October 2023. In fairness, the same ruling backed equal benefits for queer couples, and in April 2024 the government set up a committee on healthcare, pensions and property rights for LGBTQ people. Activists, though, say queer issues were largely absent from the 2024 campaign.
On straight talking, the picture isn't flattering. FactChecker tallied at least 43 major claims he made between 2014 and early 2019 that it rated not true, including figures on foreign investment and rural electrification. Numbers like that don't prove bad faith, but they do suggest a politician who sells a good story harder than the facts support.
On the recent stuff, there's nothing I could confirm as a single fresh scandal. The latest dated item I could open is the 25-year celebration, and plenty of other 2026 pages I found were undated aggregators, so I've left them out. On climate and press freedom I couldn't open a reliable page, so I won't pretend to a verdict there.