Modi's Domestic Visits Focus on BJP Strongholds

Since assuming the position of Indian prime minister in 2014, Narendra Modi has carried out more than 900 official and unofficial visits to Indian states and Union Territories, according to its office's records. The most visited state by Modi is Uttar Pradesh, where his Bharatiya Janata Party won almost 89 percent of the vote in 2014 and 77.5 percent in 2019, before sliding to just 41 percent in 2024. The state has the most seats in the Indian lower house, the Lok Sabha, at 80.

Other states that Modi frequents are also large states with many voters and states where the BJP is strong (or at least used to be). This applies to Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar (40 visits) and to a smaller extent to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka. The exception is West Bengal, which Modi visited quite frequently over the years despite not having a large voter base there. However, two thirds of his visits there have been unofficial ones, in contrast to the aforementioned states, where the prime minister's travels have been at least 65 percent official visits.

Large states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, where the BJP has traditionally been weak, were visited less by Modi. Despite large population centers, so was the South of the country in general, where other party's reign supreme. Least visits were carried out by Modi to the more remote corners of the country, like the tribal Northeast, the far North or even further flung territories like islands. However, each state or Union Territory in India has so far received at least one official visit from Modi. He has visited Jammu & Kashmir 28 times since 2014, with 19 being official visits, and has called on Manipur seven times.