Prime Minister Narendra Modi's journey from a small village to a world leader
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 74 on Tuesday. Narendra Damodardas Modi was born on 17 September 1950 in Vadnagar, Gujarat, as the third of six children of Damodardas Mulchand Modi and Hiraben Modi.?From his humble background, where he used to help his father at his tea stall at a local railway station, Modi emerged as one of the longest-serving Prime Ministers of India. Modi is only the second Prime Minister of India, after Jawaharlal Nehru, to be elected to office for three consecutive terms.??
Narendra Modi's five decades of politics
What makes Modi's political career also impressive is the fact that he has been in politics for more than five decades. As an RSS volunteer, one of the first political activities Modi took part in was in 1971 when he participated in a protest led by the Jana Sangh Satyagraha in Delhi to be enlisted to fight in the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was also politically active during the Emergency when he had to disguise himself as a Sikh to evade arrest.??
How Modi's life changed after Emergency
After the Emergency ended and the BJP was formed, Modi, who rose through the ranks of the RSS, also got prominent roles in the new party in his home state. In the next two decades, Modi established himself as a political strategist who helped the BJP come to power in Gujarat. He was also briefly given national responsibilities in the BJP and was tasked with overseeing Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.??
Chief Minister of Gujarat
However, the biggest turning point in his political career was in 2001, when Modi, who had not held any elected political office, was appointed the Chief Minister of Gujarat, replacing Keshubhai Patel.??
Modi's legacy as Chief Minister
This was one of the most turbulent times in Gujarat's history. The state was still recovering from the worst earthquake, which had killed over 20,000 people. However, the biggest challenge that Modi had to face was the Gujarat riots that broke out in February 2002, just a few months after he assumed office as CM. Modi's actions, or the lack thereof, during the Gujarat riots is something that continues to haunt him politically to this day. The riots inadvertently catapulted Modi into the wider national spotlight for the first time.?
Entering Parliament as Prime Minister
This, along with Modi's image as a development-oriented chief minister, made him the odds-on favourite to become the BJP's undisputed Prime Ministerial candidate in 2014. Modi, who entered the Gujarat Assembly, stepped foot in the Indian Parliament for the first time as the country's Prime Minister.
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