Prime Minister Narendra Modi has overtaken Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan to become the Indian with the largest following on Twitter.

The current rankings

As of August 25, Mr Modi’s account had more than 22.1 million followers. Bachchan was just behind with 22 million, while actor Shah Rukh Khan was third with 20.9 million.

How the lead was built

Mr Modi had already moved past Shah Rukh Khan in January, when he became the second most followed Indian on the platform. At that point his account had more than 17,371,600 followers against the actor’s 17,351,100.

Through 2015, the Prime Minister’s account, @narendramodi, added roughly a million followers every two months. It passed 15 million on September 22 last year and reached 16 million on November 20.

Growth has been slower in 2016, with about 5 million new followers added over roughly eight months.

See also: political leaders and election news.

Originally published on 29 August 2016. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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