Modi in Time’s ‘100 most influential people of 2020’ list, but with a caveat

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the few Indians who have been featured in Time Magazine's list of "100 most influential people of 2020".

Modi is the only politician from India who has made it to the coveted list, reports the India Today.

The Indian PM's addition to the list this year comes with a stinging critique of his political party - the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) divisive politics.

Modi, who has become the epicentre of Indian politics over the past 6 years, has emerged as a polarising figure and the piece written by Time correspondent Karl Vick stated that the Modi government functioning has eroded India's secular nature.

"All have abided in India, which the Dalai Lama (who has spent most of his life in refuge there) has lauded as 'an example of harmony and stability'...Narendra Modi has brought all that into doubt," wrote Vick.

"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," he added.

Vick argues that the BJP has not only "rejected elitism but also pluralism".

The short piece also criticised the Modi government for using the Covid-19 pandemic as a "pretense to stiffle dissent".