--- description: Find out why Narendra Modi is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Narendra Modi: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f9ac88f41ec75ec/698a1271db29872b73265d4e/time-100-Narendra-Modi.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Narendra Modi by Karl Vick  Mandatory Credit: Photo by JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10422662fe) India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the start of an annual luncheon for heads of state on the sidelines the general debate of the 74th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 24 September 2019\. The annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations runs until 30 September 2019\. General Debate of the 74th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, New York, USA - 24 Sep 2019 Mandatory Credit: Photo by JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10422662fe) India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the start of an annual luncheon for heads of state on the sidelines the general debate of the 74th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 24 September 2019\. The annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations runs until 30 September 2019\. General Debate of the 74th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, New York, USA - 24 Sep 2019Justin Lane—EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The key to democracy is not, in fact, free elections. Those only tell who got the most votes. More important is the rights of those who did not vote for the winner. [India has been the world’s largest democracy](https://time.com/5880585/india-coronavirus-impact/ "undefined") for more than seven decades. Its population of 1.3 billion includes Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and other religious sects. All have abided in India, which the [Dalai Lama](https://time.com/5865401/dalai-lama-environment/ "undefined") (who has spent most of his life in refuge there) has lauded as “an example of harmony and stability.” [Narendra Modi](https://time.com/5586415/india-election-narendra-modi-2019/ "undefined") has brought all that into doubt. Though almost all of India’s Prime Ministers have come from the nearly 80% of the population that is Hindu, only Modi has governed as if no one else matters. First elected on a populist promise of empowerment, his Hindu-­nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party rejected not only elitism but also pluralism, specifically [targeting India’s Muslims](https://time.com/5791759/narendra-modi-india-delhi-riots-violence-muslim/ "undefined"). The [crucible of the pandemic](https://time.com/5812394/india-coronavirus-lockdown-modi/ "undefined") became a pretense for stifling dissent. And the world’s most vibrant democracy fell deeper into shadow. _Vick is a TIME editor at large_ Narendra Modi Is on the 2020 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888327/narendra-modi-india/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888327/narendra-modi-india/"},"headline":"Narendra Modi","datePublished":"2020-09-22T18:01:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:33.155Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888327/narendra-modi-india/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Leaders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f9ac88f41ec75ec/698a1271db29872b73265d4e/time-100-Narendra-Modi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f9ac88f41ec75ec/698a1271db29872b73265d4e/time-100-Narendra-Modi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888327/narendra-modi-india/","name":"Narendra Modi"}}]}] ```