Narendra Modi

Who Is Narendra Modi?

Narendra Modi is a well known politician. He is the Prime Minister of India. He has been in that role since 2014. People often think of him when they hear about Indian politics. He is friendly and works hard for his country.

He is also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is part of a group called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Many people respect his calm style and his clear plans. He likes to talk about progress and hope.

Early Life and Background

He was born on September 17 1950.

Career and Claim to Fame

Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat in 2001. He stayed in that job until 2014. While he was chief minister he worked on many projects for the state. In May 2014 he became the Prime Minister of India. He has stayed in that role for many years.

He also serves as the Member of Parliament for Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. His work has made him famous around the world. Website en wikipedia org wiki Narendra Modi.

Birthday, Age and Zodiac

His birthday is September 17 1950. That means he is 75 years old today. His zodiac sign is Virgo. Virgos are known for being practical and careful. They like order and they pay attention to detail. They often help others by being reliable and steady.

Fun Facts and Legacy

Modi is a politician who was born on September 17 1950. He is now 75 years old and his sign is Virgo. He has been Prime Minister of India since 2014 and was chief minister of Gujarat before that. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. You can find more about him at the website en wikipedia org wiki Narendra Modi.

People remember him for his calm style and his focus on progress. His Virgo traits of practicality and care match his work in government. He continues to be a strong leader for India.

Narendra Modi - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Narendra Modi

Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the prime minister of India since 26 May 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindutva paramilitary volunteer organisation. He is India's third-longest-serving prime minister, and the longest-serving prime minister outside the Indian National Congress.

This profile of Narendra Modi covers Early Life and Family Background, Political Views and Public Life, Taking office, 2002 Gujarat violence and Later terms as chief minister.

Modi was born and raised in Vadnagar, where he completed his secondary education. He was introduced to the RSS at the age of eight, becoming a full-time worker for the organisation in Gujarat in 1971. Assigned by the RSS to the BJP in 1985, he rose through the party hierarchy and became general secretary in 1998. In 2001, Modi was appointed chief minister of Gujarat and elected to the legislative assembly soon after. His administration is rated complicit in the 2002 Gujarat violence in which over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed, with many others raped or mutilated. An investigation authorised by the Supreme Court found no evidence to prosecute Modi. While his policies as chief minister were credited for encouraging economic growth, business and investment, his administration was criticised for failing to significantly improve health, poverty and education indices in the state.

In the 2014 Indian general election, Modi led the BJP to a parliamentary majority, the first for a party since 1984. His administration increased direct foreign investment and reduced spending on healthcare, education, and social welfare. Modi began a high-profile sanitation campaign, introduced the Goods and Services Tax, and weakened or abolished environmental and labour laws. His demonetisation of banknotes in 2016 sparked controversy. A 2019 airstrike against an alleged terrorist camp in Pakistan failed to hit targets of significance but had nationalist appeal.

After winning a second term in 2019, Modi's administration revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. The same year it introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act, prompting widespread protests and spurring the 2020 Delhi riots in which Muslims were targeted by Hindu mobs. Three controversial farm laws led to widespread protests by farmers, eventually causing their repeal. Modi oversaw India's response to the COVID-19 pandemic which, according to the WHO, killed 4.7 million Indians. In the 2024 general election, the BJP lost its majority in the lower house of Parliament and formed a coalition government. In Modi's third term, a terrorist attack in Pahalgam led to a military conflict with Pakistan, which resulted in a ceasefire.

Under Modi's tenure, India has experienced democratic backsliding, or the weakening of democratic institutions, individual rights, and freedom of expression. As prime minister, he has received consistently high approval ratings. Modi is described as engineering a political realignment towards right-wing politics. He remains a controversial figure domestically and internationally, over his Hindu nationalist beliefs and handling of the Gujarat violence, which have been cited as evidence of a majoritarian and exclusionary social agenda.

Early Life and Family Background of Narendra Modi

Narendra Damodardas Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a Gujarati family of Other Backward Class (OBC) background and Hindu faith in Vadnagar, Mehsana district, Bombay State (present-day Gujarat). He was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi (c. 1915–1989) and Hiraben Modi (1923–2022). According to Modi and his neighbours, he worked infrequently in his father's tea stall in the Vadnagar railway station.

Modi completed his higher secondary education in Vadnagar in 1967; his teachers described him as an average student and a keen, gifted debater with an interest in theatre. He preferred playing larger-than-life characters in theatrical productions, which has influenced his political image.

When Modi was eight years old, he was introduced to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and began attending its local shakhas (training sessions). There, he met Lakshmanrao Inamdar, who inducted Modi as a balswayamsevak (junior cadet) in the RSS and became his political mentor. While Modi was training with the RSS, he also met Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal Jaghda, Bharatiya Jana Sangh leaders who in 1980 helped found the BJP's Gujarat unit. As a teenager, he was enrolled in the National Cadet Corps.

In a custom traditional to Narendra Modi's caste, his family arranged a betrothal to Jashodaben Chimanlal Modi, leading to their marriage when she was 17 and he was 18. The marriage was never consummated, and Modi soon abandoned his wife, and left home. The couple never divorced but the marriage was not in his public pronouncements for many decades. In April 2014, shortly before the national election in which he gained power, Modi publicly affirmed he was married and that his spouse was Jashodaben. A biographer wrote that Modi kept the marriage a secret because he would not have been able to become a pracharak in the RSS, for which celibacy had once been a requirement.

Modi spent the following two years travelling across northern and north-eastern India. In mid 1968, Modi reached Belur Math but was turned away, after which he visited Calcutta, West Bengal and Assam, stopping in Siliguri and Guwahati. He then went to the Ramakrishna Ashram in Almora, where he was again rejected, before returning to Gujarat via Delhi and Rajasthan in 1968 to 1969. In either late 1969 or early 1970, he returned to Vadnagar for a brief visit before leaving again for Ahmedabad, where he lived with his uncle and worked in his uncle's canteen at Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation. Swami Vivekananda has had a large influence in Modi's life.

In Ahmedabad, Modi renewed his acquaintance with Inamdar. Modi's first-known political activity as an adult was in 1971 when he joined a Jana Sangh satyagraha in Delhi led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee to enlist to fight in the Bangladesh Liberation War. The Indira Gandhi-led central government prohibited open support for the Mukti Bahini; according to Modi, he was briefly held in Tihar Jail. After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Modi left his uncle's business and became a full-time pracharak (campaigner) for the RSS, working under Inamdar. Shortly before the war, Modi took part in a non-violent protest in New Delhi against the Indian government, for which he was arrested; because of this arrest, Inamdar decided to mentor Modi. According to Modi, he was part of a satyagraha supporting the independence of Bangladesh.

In 1978, Modi received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in political science from the School of Open Learning at the Delhi University. In 1983, he received a Master of Arts (MA) degree in political science from Gujarat University, graduating with a first class as an external distance learning student. There is controversy surrounding the authenticity of his BA and MA degrees.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narendra_Modi), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.