Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s follower count on X (formerly Twitter) has shot to 100 million, making him the 2nd most-followed leader on the platform. Former US President Barack Obama currently leads with over 131 million followers on X. While ex-POTUS Donald Trump—who is currently in the news for being the target of an assassination attempt—is at number 3 with 87 million.
PM Narendra Modi, who joined Twitter in 2009, took to the platform to celebrate the milestone with a tweet.
A hundred million on @X!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 14, 2024
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. pic.twitter.com/Gcl16wsSM5
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition, trails behind with 26.4 million followers. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has 27.5 million. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has 7.4 million followers on X.
Leaders worldwide use X to send out crucial messages to the public without the intervention of traditional media. The platform is also a key campaigning and crisis management tool for most politicians who leverage its global reach and transparency.
Modi, who joined X (then Twitter) in 2009, is among the early adopters of the platform. His follower count started burgeoning in 2012 around the time of the Gujarat Assembly elections and reached a fever pitch in 2014 during the Lok Sabha Elections. Since then, Modi has used X to share policy announcements, crisis communication, personal milestones and diplomacy engagements with other world leaders. Many notable campaigns such as #Vocalforlocal during COVID-19, #MannKiBaat and #SelfieWithDaughter found significant success after being promoted on the PM’s X account.
