➨ At an official event to mark the Viksit Bharat, Viksit Bihar programme in Bihar’s Bettiah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 6 this year said the district reminded one of the life of “Sita Mata and Luv Kush, but the INDI alliance was even against the Pran Prathishtha of Shri Ram”.
➨ The prime minister, in a 36-minute speech in Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur on September 15, called the JMM, RJD and Congress as enemies of Jharkhand, and said the state’s dream is the same as the BJP’s.
➨ The PM carried out a BJP roadshow in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh on October 2, claiming in a 45-minute political speech that the JMM and “their masters in the Congress” want to make tribals a minority.
What do the above have in common?
They were all probably funded by you. Yes, you read that right.
The political opposition has often accused Indian prime ministers of using public money for a party’s political machinery. This report will not hark back to Indira Gandhi’s disqualification over the use of state apparatus for electoral purposes, but only three specific findings of our own from the Modi years, based on an analysis of data on the prime minister’s office website and the PM’s social media handles.
One, that PM Modi’s official trips, paid for by public money, have often included non-official events. Though the PM’s office, in response to an RTI query, said that the party pays for non-official events, it did not respond to Newslaundry’s queries as to how the travel expenses are accounted for in such overlap cases.
Two, that PM Modi’s official trips have also included official events with political remarks reasserting his electoral branding and lashing out at the opposition.
Three, there is a high incidence of PM Modi’s official trips to states within a 100-day window preceding a poll announcement there.
If you hover on to the PMO website, you will find a detailed section on his domestic visits categorised as “official” and “non-official”. Analysing the visits bracketed as “official”, here’s an illustration of the three findings mentioned above.
The overlap cases: Non-official events part of official itinerary
In 2022, of 45 official visits, five had events declared as non-official. And of 48 official visits in 2023, 15 contained programmes that were declared as non-official. Most of these non-official events were aimed at promoting the BJP’s electoral agenda and criticising the opposition.
The query as well as the response did not refer to overlap cases but non-official and official trips separately, as also mentioned on the PMO website. Newslaundry reached out to the PMO, asking how the office accounts for the expenses of non-official events that have been clubbed with official visits. This report will be updated if a response is received.
Among these was a BJP election meeting in Chittorgarh during his Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh tour on October 2 last year. At this rally, the PM accused the Congress of corruption.
Similarly, on October 5, PM Modi delivered a 40-minute political speech after a roadshow in Jodhpur, where he had gone to inaugurate a slew of projects.
In an RTI response to an application seeking details about the PM’s visits and non-official tours in 2022, the PM’s office had told Newslaundry that “expenditure related information may not be held by any single public authority as several public authorities are involved during the conduct of tours. It may be noted that party- or election-related visits of the PM form part of non-official tours and air-travel expenditure of the prime minister during the non-official tours is not borne by this office.”
In another RTI response this year, the PMO again said that air travel expenditure of the prime minister during the non-official tours is not borne by this office. Expenditure incurred on election rallies by the party do not form part of the record held by this office.”
The query as well as the response did not refer to overlap cases but non-official and official trips separately, as also mentioned on the PMO website.
Newslaundry reached out to the PMO, asking how the office accounts for the expenses of non-official events that have been clubbed with official visits. This report will be updated if a response is received.
In 2019, a Scroll report suggested that Manmohan Singh, as prime minister, either travelled for official or non-official purposes, and the two categories had always been segregated.
Pankaj Pachauri, a senior journalist who was Manmohan Singh’s media advisor for 28 months until the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, pointed to a “Chinese wall” of segregation between government and party work. “During my 28 months, I never saw him go for official work and promote the party (Congress). The party used to bear the expenses of the party’s campaign. When he used to go for the party’s campaign, no one from the office accompanied him. Only his private secretary used to go with him.”
The PMO website lists only two domestic and official trips of erstwhile PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, without any sign of party promotion in them.
The officially unofficial: Political remarks at strictly official events
Of 38 official visits in 2024, 14 visits saw PM Modi make remarks promoting his party and criticising the opposition at 21 different events. And all of the nine official visits before the Lok Sabha polls announcement this year featured remarks on opposition.
For example, on February 16 in Haryana’s Rewari, the PM laid the foundation stone for various projects, according to the PMO website. But a video on the PM’s YouTube channel showed him at a public meeting, talking about the NDA’s expected tally of 400, the BJP’s “good” governance, and targeting the “bad governance” of the Congress.
On February 20, in Jammu, while the purpose was only the inauguration of projects, the prime minister spoke on dynastic politics within Jammu and Kashmir. “Those who do politics of complaints have always looked after their own interests. They have not cared about your interests.”
In Gujarat’s Navsari on February 22, the PM laid the foundation stones for projects to the tune of Rs 47,000 crore, but at a public meeting, he lashed out at the Congress. “Modi's guarantee begins where hope from others ends. Congress never paid attention to the development of tribal areas and villages located on the coast.”
There was no BJP flag on the stage, but many in the audience were seen wearing BJP caps.
The trend continued until the Lok Sabha poll announcement, at one visit after another, from Yavatmal in Maharashtra, to Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, Varanasi, Begusarai, Aurangabad and Bettiah in Bihar, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam to Arunachal Pradesh.
You can tune into some of his political speeches at official events below.
The BJP has repeatedly denied these claims. Additionally, there is no publicly available information on the protocol that governs the prime minister’s domestic travel. Newslaundry reached out to the PMO, asking if the PM could promote a party during an official event, and on a significant number of his visits being chalked out for states that are expected to hold elections soon. Questions were mailed to PIB deputy director (PMO and other work allocated by group principal) Vandana Jatav, Dhiraj Singh, additional DG of the PMO’s media wing, and contact@mygov.nic.in. This report will be updated if a response is received.
On November 16, 2021, the PM went to UP’s Sultanpur, where he inaugurated the Purvanchal Expressway as per an official statement. But his YouTube video shows him addressing a large public meeting and criticising erstwhile governments in a 45-minute speech, with BJP flags in the audience. “The government that was here before Yogiji did injustice to the people. The way those governments discriminated in development, and served the interests of their own family. The people of UP will remove those who do this from the path of UP’s development forever. And in 2017 (UP assembly polls), you have done this.”
On November 25, 2021, the PM laid the foundation stone for the international airport in Jewar, and subsequently gave an election speech from a state podium. “For so many years after independence, Uttar Pradesh was forced to listen to taunts. Uttar Pradesh which was always shown false dreams by the previous governments is now making a mark not only at the national level, but also at the international level. It was embroiled in the tussle between the previous governments in Delhi and Lucknow.”
This was also seen in Kushinagar, Siddharthnagar, Mahoba, Meerut, Gorakhpur and Prayagraj, where the PM went for the inauguration of schemes on official visits but was seen campaigning for the party at events.
Similar remarks were made in Jharkhand, where public money was spent to promote his visits, weeks before the assembly polls were announced for November.
For example, on October 2, hours before PM Modi’s roadshow in Hazaribagh, several papers published an advertisement by the Hemant Soren government, featuring pictures of PM Modi, Soren and Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar. “In the Jharkhand of the immortal martyrs who trumpeted freedom, a hearty welcome and johar to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.”
The PMO website had not categorised the event as non-official at the time of writing this report.
Asked about this ad, a senior officer of Jharkhand’s public relations department said, “The Prime Minister does not belong to any party, but to the country. We welcome him. This is the tradition of Jharkhand.”
A similar state government ad was published in newspapers on September 15, the day the PM lashed out at “enemies of Jharkhand” in Jamshedpur.
Landing in poll-bound states
Last year, the PM made 52 official visits, of which 24 were in states which were likely to hold elections.
From January, 2022 to November, 2023, 16 states held assembly polls. The PM visited 13 of them, except Punjab, Mizoram and Nagaland, 51 times within a 100-day window preceding the poll announcement.
On January 8, 2022, elections were announced in Punjab, Goa, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Within a 100-day window preceding the announcement, the PM made 20 official visits to these states of the total 23 he made during the period. Of these 20, 14 were to UP, four were to Uttarakhand, and one each to Goa and Manipur once. His cancelled visit to Punjab, which was affected by a security breach, is not included as it was not mentioned on the PMO website.
In Himachal Pradesh, elections were announced on October 14, 2022. The PM visited the state twice the same month – on October 5 and 13. In Gujarat, where polls were announced on November 3, 2022, the PM made five visits, while in Karnataka, where elections were announced on March 29, 2023, the PM visited the state seven times, within a 100-day window preceding both the poll announcements.
On October 9, 2023, polls were announced for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. The PM visited Madhya Pradesh five times, Rajasthan four times, and Chhattisgarh and Telangana thrice each within 100 days preceding the announcement. He did not visit Mizoram.
Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura elections were announced on January 18, 2023. The PM did not go to Nagaland but visited the two other states on December 18, 2022.
Several of these visits saw him make political remarks.
For example, of his 14 visits to Uttar Pradesh, seven saw him target the opposition at public meetings.
On October 2 last year, a week before polls were announced in Madhya Pradesh, the PM had reached Gwalior to dedicate projects to the nation, and inaugurated schemes and projects worth nearly Rs 19,260 crore. At a roadshow that was not declared as non-official in the official itinerary, the car on which the PM stood was covered with his photographs, and PM Modi urged the audience to vote in a “double engine” government.
Maharashtra and Jharkhand are set to hold elections next month. The PM has already made official visits to Maharashtra – five times from July to October – and Jharkhand (twice, in September and October).
Earlier this month, Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (Uddhav) leader Sanjay Raut questioned the PM’s verbal attacks on the opposition at official events in Maharashtra. Alleging that the official apparatus, including government aeroplanes, were being used for an election campaign, the legislator demanded that a case be filed against the PM and the BJP.
In Maharashtra’s Wardha, as part of an official visit to highlight the PM Vishwakarma scheme, the PM on September 20 said that Indians must be cautious of the “deceit” and “fraud” of the Congress, and termed the Maha Vikas Aghadi as “hurdles” to development.
On October 5, in Maharashtra’s Thane, the PM had laid the foundation stone for a slew of projects, estimated to cost over Rs 32,800 crore, as per a PIB press release. But his YouTube channel featured him standing on a podium with the State Emblem, lashing out at the opposition. “Friends, wherever the Congress treads, there is only destruction. They have pushed the country into the pit of poverty. They have destroyed Maharashtra. They destroyed the farmers of Maharashtra. They destroyed the state they governed.”
No protocol?
The misuse of government machinery and public money for the BJP’s political campaign is a charge repeatedly levied by opposition leaders over the last decade: from branding on ration bags to vaccine certificates to generic drugs. The opposition has also accused the Election Commission of India of inaction on the issue.
The BJP has repeatedly denied these claims. Additionally, there is no publicly available information on the protocol that governs the prime minister’s domestic travel.
Newslaundry reached out to the PMO, asking if the PM could promote a party during an official event, and on a significant number of his visits being chalked out for states that are expected to hold elections soon. Questions were mailed to PIB deputy director (PMO and other work allocated by group principal) Vandana Jatav, Dhiraj Singh, additional DG of the PMO’s media wing, and contact@mygov.nic.in. This report will be updated if a response is received.
With research assistance from Yash Goyal.
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