Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always advocated Indian heritage, legacy and staying in touch with one's roots. But he is a man who leads by example. He has not forgotten his days as a chaiwallah. He has changed his product though. Now he sells t-shirts, badges, notebooks — anything the millennials need. He worries about the country's youth after all.
At 2.56 pm on March 24, the PM's official Twitter handle put out a post, "Phir Ek Baar, NaMo Chowkidar! India is showing its support for NaMo Again with Main Bhi Chowkidar T-shirts! Get your own..." T-shirts, Modi (Nehru) coats, caps, books and badges of the Main Bhi Chowkidar brand. But the NaMo app has much more to offer though. Wristbands, pens, clocks, buntings, masks, mugs, magnets — you name it — the app and the website has it. While most of the merchandise say NaMo Again (with or without a lotus), some of them has the NDA administration's go-to words like Make In India, Namo Namah, Swachh Bharat and a variety of other things. Oh and there's one stray Naari Shakti tee as well.
But this was the first time a Prime Minister of India was seen taking an active part in the marketing of his own products, from which he will obviously not make a penny. It's, as we know, all for the public. But the e-commerce site selling Modiji's merchandise lacks diversity. Twitter users have panned the move and pointed out that they should also have T-shirts about unemployment, women's safety, communalism, farmer suicides, the other Modis, Kashmir and cow-vigilantes as well. That way he may, even though unofficially, address the issues that a mindless section of the media says that he never talks about.
Most of the products feature the colour saffron or bhagwa — and if that is anything to go by, perhaps this line will be hugely successful. After all, Baba Ramdev's Patanjali turned out to be a genius venture that has redefined the FMCG market as we know it.
