{"id":2036,"date":"2026-09-18T08:31:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T08:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/18\/gujarat-spends-rs-14-crore-on-modis-birthday-campaign\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T08:31:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T08:31:51","slug":"gujarat-spends-rs-14-crore-on-modis-birthday-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/18\/gujarat-spends-rs-14-crore-on-modis-birthday-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Gujarat spends Rs 14 crore on nine\u2011day Modi celebration, part of wider publicity surge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>In 2024 the Gujarat government allocated more than Rs\u202f8\u202fcrore for advertisements that marked Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s decades in public office. The spending formed part of a broader pattern of celebrations that span several BJP\u2011run states and the central party, extending the prime minister\u2019s birthday into a month\u2011long series of inaugurations, foundation\u2011stone ceremonies and publicity drives.<\/p>\n<h2>Birthday\u2011season programmes across the country<\/h2>\n<p>On the day of Modi\u2019s birthday, the Delhi state administration and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the launch of the \u201cSeva Sankalp Abhiyan \u2013 Jan Seva Hi Prabhu Seva Hai\u201d programme. The initiative runs from 17\u202fSeptember to 18\u202fOctober, aligning with the 25th anniversary of Modi\u2019s first appointment as chief minister of Gujarat in 1995. In the neighbouring state of Haryana, each Deputy Commissioner received a allocation of Rs\u202f10\u202flakh to support the same Seva Sankalp Abhiyan.<\/p>\n<p>These regional programmes echo a long\u2011standing practice of turning political milestones into public\u2011service celebrations. Past examples include \u201cGST Diwas\u201d for the first anniversary of the goods\u2011and\u2011services tax, the \u201c9 Saal, Seva, Sushasan, Garib Kalyan\u201d campaign, and a heavily promoted 100th episode of Prime Minister Modi\u2019s radio address, \u201cMann Ki Baat\u201d. Government schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, the Ujjwala Yojana and Jan\u202fDhan accounts have also received annual ad blitzes that highlight years of implementation and beneficiary numbers.<\/p>\n<h2>Gujarat\u2019s Vikas Saptah and advertising outlays<\/h2>\n<p>Gujarat observes a nine\u2011day \u201cVikas Saptah\u201d each year from 7\u202fOctober to 15\u202fOctober, timed to commemorate Modi\u2019s oath\u2011taking as chief minister in 2001. The state describes the week as an occasion to showcase its development trajectory, featuring programme launches, inaugurations, foundation\u2011laying ceremonies and extensive publicity of government schemes.<\/p>\n<p>For the most recent Vikas Saptah, which marked 24\u202fyears since Modi first assumed the chief\u2011ministerial post, the state spent Rs\u202f14.05\u202fcrore, according to an assembly reply to Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani. The previous year, marking 23\u202fyears of what the government called \u201csuccessful and capable leadership\u201d, Gujarat spent Rs\u202f8.81\u202fcrore on advertisements across print, electronic, digital and social media. The figures were supplied to the BBC under the Right\u2011to\u2011Information Act.<\/p>\n<p>The Gujarat Chief Minister\u2019s Office website confirms that Vikas Saptah is an annual event, and that the government\u2019s description emphasizes the celebration of the state\u2019s governance record.<\/p>\n<h2>Overall publicity spending and election\u2011year spikes<\/h2>\n<p>Data from the Gujarat Information and Broadcasting Department show that total publicity expenditure reached Rs\u202f108.80\u202fcrore for the financial year ending 31\u202fDecember\u202f2025. This amount translates to an average daily outlay of roughly Rs\u202f29.8\u202flakh. The Rs\u202f14.05\u202fcrore spent on Vikas Saptah formed part of this larger budget, though the assembly reply did not break down the Rs\u202f108.80\u202fcrore by medium.<\/p>\n<p>When queried about the number of agencies engaged for government publicity, the department responded that the figure was \u201czero\u201d. Likewise, the department indicated that no other state department had written for payment of bills related to the Vikas Saptah spend, and that no department had deposited any portion of the amount.<\/p>\n<p>Election\u2011year spending in Gujarat shows a sharp increase. In 2022\u201123, the Information and Broadcasting Department expended Rs\u202f305.37\u202fcrore, the year the state held Assembly elections in December\u202f2022. The department had been allocated Rs\u202f317.82\u202fcrore for the year, leaving Rs\u202f12.45\u202fcrore unspent, and the average daily spend rose to about Rs\u202f83.66\u202flakh. By contrast, in 2021\u201122 the department received an allocation of Rs\u202f166.33\u202fcrore and spent Rs\u202f163.43\u202fcrore, averaging Rs\u202f44.77\u202flakh per day. The jump to Rs\u202f305.37\u202fcrore represents an increase of nearly 87\u202fpercent over the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>Nationally, the pattern of using public funds for political milestones extends beyond Gujarat. The Newslaundry project on government advertising reports that the central Modi administration spent Rs\u202f5,987\u202fcrore on advertisements between 2014\u201115 and 2024\u201125. In Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government spent Rs\u202f6,811.94\u202fcrore between 2017\u201118 and 2024\u201125, while Uttarakhand\u2019s total advertising outlay over five financial years reached Rs\u202f1,001\u202fcrore.<\/p>\n<p>Recent high\u2011visibility campaigns include the \u201cGST Bachat Utsav\u201d, which ran from 4\u202fSeptember to 28\u202fOctober\u202f2025 and consumed Rs\u202f22\u202fcrore on advertisements alone, according to Rajya Sabha data. The campaign, intended to promote savings from the revised GST rates, was itself funded with public money.<\/p>\n<p>Other milestone\u2011driven publicity efforts have highlighted the prime minister\u2019s longevity in office. Billboards and ads have been erected to congratulate Modi on becoming the longest\u2011serving elected prime minister of India, and a separate campaign marked his 4,399\u2011day tenure.<\/p>\n<p>The cumulative evidence points to an entrenched practice of converting political anniversaries, birthdays and policy roll\u2011outs into large\u2011scale advertising drives funded by state and central budgets. While officials often frame these campaigns as public\u2011service outreach, the scale of expenditure\u2014particularly in election years\u2014has drawn scrutiny from opposition legislators and civil\u2011society watchdogs.<\/p>\n<p>As the month\u2011long birthday celebrations unfold across Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat, the financial figures disclosed in assembly replies and RTI responses provide a transparent, if stark, view of the resources devoted to political commemoration in India\u2019s current administration.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gujarat&#8217;s Information and Broadcasting Department allocated Rs 14.05\u202fcrore for a nine\u2011day Vikas Saptah event marking Modi\u2019s tenure, while overall publicity spending in the state has surged in recent years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[2143,2144,2145,2147,2146],"class_list":["post-2036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-government-advertising","tag-gujarat","tag-modi-birthday","tag-political-campaigns","tag-public-spending","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}