Will fondly cherish our interactions: PM Modi mourns Piyush Pandey’s demise

The Indian Prime Minister took to X to mourn the passing of advertising legend Piyush Pandey.

“Shri Piyush Pandey Ji was admired for his creativity. He made a monumental contribution to the world of advertising and communications. I will fondly cherish our interactions over the years. Saddened by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and admirers. Om Shanti,” the PM wrote on X.

Shri Piyush Pandey Ji was admired for his creativity. He made a monumental contribution to the world of advertising and communications. I will fondly cherish our interactions over the years. Saddened by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and admirers. Om Shanti.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 24, 2025

The two go way back: Pandey helmed the famous Gujarat Tourism campaign and later aided the now Prime Minister in his first Lok Sabha election campaign, which featured the iconic tagline: “Abki Baar Modi Sarkar.”

Speaking to afaqs! in 2020, the Ogilvy legend reflected on the freedom he was given while crafting the tourism campaign. "... had a single client at that time who used to brief me and give me all the freedom to do what I wanted to do with Mr Bachchan (again), and the client's name was Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat at that time and the incumbent prime minister of India."

Pandey said he changed the tourism line from 'Vibrant Gujarat', which was used to attract business and promote tourism together, to 'Khushboo Gujarat Ki'.