PM Modi's YouTube channel subscribers number cross 2 crore, far ahead of other global leaders

The number of subscribers on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal YouTube channel crossed two crore on Tuesday, with the Indian leader becoming the only world leader to have this distinction and leading his contemporaries by a long distance.

Officials noted that the videos posted on Modi's channel have more than 4.5 billion views, far ahead of his global peers.

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is second on the list of subscriber numbers with around 64 lakh -- less than a third of Modi's. In terms of views, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is second to the Indian prime minister with 22.4 crore, a small fraction of Modi's.

US President Joe Biden has 7.89 lakh subscribers while his Turkiye counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan has 3.16 lakh.

'Yoga with Modi', a YouTube channel linked to the prime minister, is also high on the list with more than 73,000 subscribers.

Among other notable Indian leaders, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's channel has more than 35 lakh subscribers, a little over a sixth of Modi's.

The prime minister set up his YouTube channel in 2007 when he was Gujarat chief minister and is considered a pioneer in Indian politics in understanding the potential of social media in public communication and is credited for harnessing it to huge success.