New Delhi, June 19 -- A right to information reply has revealed that the Centre has spent about Rs 2,586 crore in advertisements promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi between 2020 and 2026.

To put the amount into perspective, the total amount spent wasn't just a few hundred crore - it was Rs 25,86,00,00,000, and Indian taxpayers paid for it, according to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale, who filed the RTI.

Gokhale had applied for an RTI on June 1 asking for disclosure of the amount spent by the Union government on advertisements across all platforms, including digital, social media, TV, radio, print and hoardings promoting Modi. The Central Bureau of Communication (CBC), under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, rele...