Narendra Modi

Narendra Damodardas Modi  born 17 September 1950) is the current chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat.

Narendra Damodardas Modi was born in an other backward class (OBC) middle-class family at Vadnagar, he was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife Heeraben. He has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood, having an interest in politics since adolescence. He holds a master's degree in political science. In 1998, he was chosen by L. K. Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to direct the election campaign in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

He became the chief minister of Gujarat in October 2001, promoted to the office at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. His tenure as chief minister began on 7 October 2001. In July 2007, he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously. He was elected again for a third term on 23 December 2007 in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule".

Personal life

Modi was born to a middle-class family in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of what was then Bombay State, India. Modi is a vegetarian. During the Indo-Pak war in the mid sixties, even as a young boy, he volunteered to serve the soldiers in transit at railway stations. As a young man, he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student organisation and was involved in the anti-corruption Nav Nirmāṇ ("Reconstruction") Movement. After working as a full-time organiser for the organisation, he was later nominated as its representative in the Bharatiya Janata Party. As a teenager Modi used to run a tea stall with his brother. Modi completed his schooling in Vadnagar. He earned a masters degree in political science from Gujarat University.

Early activism and politics

Modi was a pracharak (campaigner) in the RSS during his university years.He took up the challenging task of energising the party cadres in right earnest. In partnership withShankersinh Vaghela, Modi set about creating a strong cadre base in Gujarat. In the initial period, Vaghela was seen as a mass leader, while Modi was recognised as a master strategist.

The party started gaining political mileage and formed a coalition government at the centre in April 1990. This partnership fell apart within a few months, but the BJP came to power with a two-thirds majority on its own in Gujarat in 1995. During this period, Modi was entrusted with the responsibility of organising two crucial national events, the Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra (a political rally through India on a converted Toyota van) of L.K. Advani and a similar march from Kanyakumari (the southernmost part of mainland India, southernmost point of India being Indira point of Andaman and Nicobar islands) to Kashmir in the North. After the exit of Shankarsingh Vaghela from the BJP, Keshubhai Patel was made Chief Minister while Narendra Modi was sent to New Delhi as a General Secretary of the Party.

In 1995, Modi was appointed the National Secretary of the party and given the charge of five major states in India. In 1998, he was promoted as the General Secretary (Organization), a post he held until October 2001. In 2001, Narendra Modi was chosen by the party to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat after the removal of chief minister Keshubhai Patel.

Tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat

Personality

Modi is known for leading a frugal lifestyle. He has a personal staff of just three. He is known to be a workaholic Chief Minister and an introvert. He ordered the demolition of many Hindu temples that were built without proper government sanction which earned him the ire of VHP.He is a crowd puller as a speaker. He has been trying to project himself as a political heir of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He does this by comparing Sardar Patel to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Modi sometimes wears business suits and is improving his command over the English language.