PHOTO: AFP
As he completed his first year in office as Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi said on Tuesday world is optimistic about India.
The Indian premier took to social networking site Twitter and said the world is enthusiastic about exploring the opportunities India has to offer.
The world is optimistic about India & is enthusiastic about exploring the opportunities India has to offer. http://t.co/IEuDfdcvWX
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 26, 2015
Modi told thousands of supporters his government was devoted to the poor on Monday, directly tackling criticism he has governed for the rich and failed farmers in his first year in office.
Modi poses for a selfie with Bollywood starlet Sonam Kapoor.
Read: My fashion sense is a gift from God: Modi
“Production is up, inflation is down, power generation has risen, poor are getting bank accounts…a lot had changed in one year,” the Indian premier added.
Production is up, inflation is down, power generation has risen, poor are getting bank accounts…lot changed in 1 year http://t.co/rv4MkNMsIy
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 26, 2015
Considered one of the most fashionable leaders in the world, Modi is popular with fashion critics and widely known for his 'selfies.'
The Indian premier not only has taken the media by storm with his clothing but has also caught US President Barack Obama’s attention as well.
During a recent visit to India, Obama commenting on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s leader suggested Modi out-styled the First Lady Michelle Obama.
The Indian prime minister is said to have changed his outfit thrice during the first day of Obama’s visit. But it did not stop there as one of his suits, he donned for a lunch for Obama made the biggest impact.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Modi appeared to be wearing a pinstripe suit, but zoomed-in photographs revealed the stripes are actually letters repeatedly spelling out Modi’s name.
Modi told thousands of supporters his government was devoted to the poor on Monday, directly tackling criticism he has governed for the rich and failed farmers in his first year in office.
“In a nut shell, Modi is clearly seen as an icon of developmental politics, strong leadership and charismatic campaigner,” Nalin Kohli, a spokesman for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Further, in a rare show of everyman charm from one of China’s most elite politicians, Premier Li Keqiang appeared in a grinning selfie with visiting Modi.
Read: Modi, Li try hand at 'selfie' diplomacy
PHOTO: TWITTER
On the eve of the government's first anniversary Modi traveled south from New Delhi to a region hard hit by crop losses and bad weather to counter opposition jibes that he is losing support of rural areas, home to 70 per cent of Indians.
Read: Modi becomes the 15th Prime Minister of India
"Every moment of my time and every particle of my body is determined to secure the welfare of the poor," he told a jubilant crowd that waited for hours in sweltering heat in the town of Mathura to hear the speech.
Distress among farmers suffering from lower commodity prices and damage caused by early rains has weakened Modi's support in parts of the rural north, including around Mathura where at least two farmer suicides have been blamed on crop losses.
Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor pose for a selfie with the Indian premier.
Modi vowed to end the rural crisis, farmer suicides and corruption in rural government schemes in the remaining four years of his tenure.
He listed his achievements on the economy -- such as lowering inflation and raising billions of dollars through coal field auctions -- while hammering the governments that came before.
"I must say that leaders in the past have failed to achieve what I have achieved in just one year," Modi said, to cheers.
PHOTO: AFP
An opinion poll released by TV network Times Now showed strong support for Modi, with 65 per cent of respondents saying the "good days" promised in his campaign had already arrived or were coming soon.
But criticism by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has also hit home, with 44 percent echoing Gandhi's jibe that Modi ran a "suit-boot" government, in other words one that favoured the wealthy.
Gandhi's Congress party was demolished in the election last year, but has regained some vigor attacking Modi's rural record, including falling farmer exports and an executive order to ease farmland acquisition for industrial projects.
The Aashiqui 2 couple, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor pose with Modi for a selfie.
Modi listed the names of over two dozen welfare schemes launched in the last 365 days and reminded supporters of the massive corruption that tainted the government that preceded him.
"Bad days have vanished. Those who plundered wealth and cheated you have been defeated. They can target me but I will continue to protect you," said Modi.
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