On buses and auto-rickshaws, sidewalks and bridges, billboards and market walls: It’s hard to go far in New Delhi these days without seeing the face of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The deluge of advertising is part of a marketing blitz to greet nearly 30 world leaders descending on India’s capital this week for the Group of 20 summit. For Modi, it also serves as the unofficial start to the campaign for next year’s election, at which he’s expected to extend his decade in power.
The most obvious clue is in the G20 logo itself, which contains a lotus flower similar to the symbol of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has won outright majorities in the last two national elections for the first time since the 1980s. The BJP currently appears on track to repeat that performance, with an India Today survey showing 52% of respondents favored Modi as prime minister.