Narendra Modi’s full name is Narendra Damodardas Modi. He is the first prime minister to be born in independent India (September 17, 1950). He was born in Vadnagar, a small town Mehsana district of Gujarat.
As the nation celebrates his 69th birthday on Tuesday, here are some of the milestones of his political career:
- 1965: Narendra Modi began his political career as the Kankaria ward secretary of the then Jan Sangh in 1965 in Ahmedabad.
2. 1972: According to PMO website at the age of 17 he left home to travel across India. “For two years he travelled across the expansive landscape of India exploring various cultures. When he returned home he was a changed man with a clear aim of what he wanted to achieve in life. He went to Ahmedabad and joined Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)”.
3. 1987: Modi entered mainstream politics joining BJP in 1987, and was promoted as the General Secretary of the Gujarat unit within a year.
4. 1995: BJP came to power individually in Gujarat in 1995 and has its stronghold there ever since. Modi was appointed as the National Secretary of the party then.
5. He was elevated to the post of General Secretary in 1998, and held the position till 2001.
6. Modi was chosen to replace Gujarat’s then Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel in 2001 as the party was facing tough time with internal bickerings. He was appointed by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Modi had previously refused to be the deputy chief minister.
7. Modi sworn in as the chief minister on October 7, 2001. He was elected to assemly in a by-poll on February 24, 2002.
8. On February 27, 2002, Sabarmati Express, carrying Hindu pilgrims travelling from Ayodhya after performing a ceremony at the demolished Babri Masjid site, was set ablaze in Godhra. The fire killed scores of of both Hindus and Muslims travelling in S6 coach. Cases were filed against Modi over his alleged personal involvement in the incident. They were later closed by the Supreme Court as a Special Investigation Team (SIT) sited lack of evidence. The United Kingdom criticised his role in the riots in 2002, and Modi was even denied a diplomatic visa by the United States of America in 2005 citing his alleged involvement. Of course, the ban was lifted by UK after ten years.
9. 2002-2012: Narendra Modi had taken the Gujarat elections by a landslide with 127 of the 182 seats in the December 2002, 117 in 20017 and 115 in 2012. He was known for his Gujarat model of governance which meant to create a vibrant Gujarat.
10) 2014: Modi established himself as a prime ministerial candidate by 2014 General Elections. He even won a Time magazine reader’s poll and was voted the person of the year in 2016. With “Ab ki bar Modi Sarkar” as the slogan, BJP campaigned far and wide for Modi.Modi’s BJP eventually became the first party to win majority number of seats of 282 in the Lok Sabha polls with Modi himself winning in both his constituencies – Vadodara and Varanasi.
11) 2014-2019: In 2015, he made a surprise visit to Pakistan and met the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. He brought grand economic reforms such as the banning of all Rs 500 and 1000 notes on November 8, 2016, and the introduction of ‘one nation, one tax’ concept with GST on July 1, 2017.
12) 2019: The 2019 general elections were once again in favour of ‘Modi sarkar’ as the NDA coalition had won a whopping 353 seats in the 543-member Parliament. Modi had also won his Varanasi constituency. Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister of India May 30, 2019.
The abrogation of Article 370, criminalisation of Triple Talaq rule and the anti-terror law were a few of the changes that were implemented within the first 100 days of his present tenure.
To read more about the personal life of Narendra Modi you can visit https://www.narendramodi.in/humble-beginnings-the-early-years-3131
(source: Deccan Herald)