Narendra Modi is all about larger than life portrayals. Be it his image, the work he's done in his four years as Prime Minister or the string of campaigns he heads, everything has to be publicised in a grandiose manner and at the end of the day, it costs money. The data revealed under an RTI shows that the Narendra Modi Government spent around Rs. 4343.26 crores in advertisements and publicity over four years in power.

As per the data, now available in public domain, the Modi government spent Rs. 424.85 crores on print publicity, Rs. 448.97 crore on electronic media and Rs. 79.72 crore on outdoor publicity from 2014 to 2015. Similarly, the government spent Rs. 1171.11 crore in 2015-106 and 1263.15 crore in 2016-17.

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RTI activist Galgia, who submitted the RTI said that even though the expenses are pretty high, the reduction advertisement expenses in 2017 is a win for those people asking questions about such splurges.

“From the details obtained it can be understood that due to constant criticism of the opposition parties and the public on social media the Modi government seems to have reduced its spending on publicity in the year 2017-18. The government which spent Rs 1263.15 crores on publicity in the year 2016-17, spent Rs 955.46 crores in the year 2017-18, which is a reduction of Rs 308 crores and almost 25% less than the previous year," Galgali said in a press statement.

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These expenses on advertisements and publicity of the government's work will definitely increase going into next year, as Modi is sure to unleash a marketing blitzkrieg ahead of the 2019 General Elections. While it's true that his carefully cultivated image does ensure that the development work is there for all to see, this huge expenditure is still being paid off by hard-working citizens of the country through taxes.