Narendra Modi: India’s 15th Prime Minister

Narendra Modi: India’s 15th Prime Minister

 

Narendra Damodardas Modi   born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of the Republic of India since May 26th 2014. Modi, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014.

Modi was a key strategist for the BJP in the successful 1995 and 1998 Gujarat state election campaigns. He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001 and served longer by far in that position than anyone else to date. He was a major campaign figure in the 2009 general election, which the BJP led National Democratic Alliance lost to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). He led the BJP in the April–May 2014 general election, which resulted in a majority for the BJP in the Lok Sabha.

Modi, a Hindu nationalist, is also a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).[1][2][3] He is a controversial figure both within India as well as internationally[4][5][6][7] as his administration has been criticised for the incidents surrounding the 2002 Gujarat riots.[7][8] He has been praised for his economic policies, which are credited with creating an environment for a high rate of economic growth in Gujarat.[9] However, his administration has also been criticised for failing to make a significant positive impact upon the human development of the state.[10]

 

Early life and education

Modi with his mother on his 63rd birthday on 17 September 2013.

Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a family of grocers belonging to the backward Ghanchi-Teli (oil-presser) community, in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of what was then Bombay State (present-day Gujarat), India.[11][12][13][14][15] He was the third of four children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife, Heeraben.[16] He helped his father sell tea at Vadnagar railway station. As a child and as a teenager, he ran a tea stall with his brother near a bus terminus.[17][18] In 1967, he completed his schooling in Vadnagar, where a teacher described him as being an average student, but a keen debater who had an interest in theatre.

That interest has influenced how he now projects himself in politics.[20] At the age of eight, Modi came in contact with RSS and he began attending its local shakhas where he came in contact with Lakshmanrao Inamdar, popularly known as Vakil Saheb, who is known as his political guru and mentor. Inamdar inducted Modi as a balswayamsevak, a junior cadet in RSS. During his morning exercise session at the keri pitha shakha of RSS, he also came in contact with Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal Jaghda, leaders of the Jan Sangh who later founded the BJP's Gujarat state unit in 1980.

Modi's parents arranged his marriage as a child, in keeping with the traditions of the Ghanchi caste. He was engaged at the age of 13 to Jashodaben Chimanlal and the couple were married by the time he was 18. They spent very little time together and were soon estranged because Modi decided to pursue an itinerant life.[17][27] However as per Modi's biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, the marriage was never consummated.[28] Having remained silent on his marital status, during declarations related to candidature during four state elections since 2002 and having claimed that his status as a single person meant that he had no reason to be corrupt, Modi acknowledged Jashodaben as his legal spouse when filling in his nomination form for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

As per Modi in Kishore Makwana's Common Man Narendra Modi, published in 2014, after leaving home at 17, he went to Ramakrishna Mission ashram in Rajkot and then to the Belur Math near Kolkata. Then he went to Guwahati and later joined another ashram set up by Swami Vivekananda in Almora, in the Himalayan foothills. Two years after, he returned to Vadnagar and after a brief halt at his house, Modi left again for Ahmedabad, where he lived and worked in a tea stall run by his uncle where he again came in contact with Lakshmanrao Inamdar who was then based at Hedgewar Bhavan, the RSS headquarters in the city.[21][22][23] He then worked in the staff canteen of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation until he became a full–time pracharak (propagandist) of the RSS in 1970.[25] In 1978, Modi graduated with an extramural degree through Distance Education in political science from Delhi University.[22][28] In 1983, while remaining as a pracharak in the RSS, completed his Master's degree in political science from Gujarat University.

 

Early political career

Modi formally joined the RSS after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[28] After Modi had received some RSS training in Nagpur, which was a prerequisite for taking up an official position in the Sangh Parivar, he was given charge of Sangh's student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, in Gujarat. During 1975-1977, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of the emergency, political opponents were jailed and political organisation including RSS were banned. Modi went underground in Gujarat and to evade arrest was occasionally disguised as a Sikh, saint, elderly man etc. and printed and sent booklets against the central government to Delhi. He also organised agitations and covert distribution of Sangh's pamphlets.

He also participated in the movement against the Emergency under Jayaprakash Narayan. He was made the general secretary of the Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti and his primary role was to coordinate between activists in the state.[22][34] During this period he wrote a book titled Sangharsh ma Gujarat (Gujarat’s struggle) in Gujarati which chronicles events, anecdotes as well as his personal experiences.[33][35][36] The RSS assigned Modi to the BJP in 1985.[25] While Shankersinh Vaghela and Keshubhai Patel were the established names in the Gujarat BJP at that time, Modi rose to prominence after organising Murli Manohar Joshi's Kanyakumari-Srinagar Ekta yatra (Journey for Unity) in 1991.[17] In 1988, Modi was elected as organizing secretary of BJP's Gujarat unit,[37] marking his formal entry into mainstream politics.[28] As secretary, his electoral strategy was central to BJP's victory in the 1995 state elections.

In November 1995, Modi was elected National Secretary of BJP and was transferred to New Delhi where he was assigned responsibility for the party's activities in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.[38][40] Vaghela defected from the BJP after he lost the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, having previously threatened to do so in 1995.[17] Modi was promoted to the post of General Secretary (Organisation) of the BJP in May 1998. While on the selection committee for the 1998 Assembly elections in Gujarat, Modi favoured supporters of Patel over those loyal to Vaghela, in an attempt to put an end to the factional divisions within the party. His strategies were credited as being key to winning the 1998 elections.[38]

Chief Minister of Gujarat

 

Members of Modi's former Council of Ministers with him at a Planning Commission meet in New Delhi

In 2001, Keshubhai Patel's health was failing, and the BJP had lost seats in the by-elections. Allegations of abuse of power, corruption and poor administration were being made, and Patel's standing had been damaged by his administration's handling of the Bhuj Earthquake of 2001.[38][41][42] As a result, the BJP's national leadership sought a new candidate for the office of chief minister, and Modi, who had aired his misgivings about Patel's administration, was chosen as a replacement.[17] L. K. Advani, a senior leader of the BJP, did not want to ostracise Patel and was worried about Modi's lack of experience in governance. Modi declined an offer to be Patel's deputy chief minister, informing Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee that he was "going to be fully responsible for Gujarat or not at all", and on 7 October 2001, Modi was appointed the Chief Minister of Gujarat, with the responsibility of preparing the BJP for elections in December 2002. As Chief Minister, Modi's ideas of governance revolved around privatisation and small government, which stood at odds with what political commentator Aditi Phadnis has described as the "anti-privatisation, anti-globalisation position" of the RSS.[41]

First term (2001–2002)

2002 Gujarat riots

Main article: 2002 Gujarat riots

On 27 February 2002, a train with several hundred passengers including large numbers of Hindu pilgrims was burned near Godhra, killing around 60 people.[a] Following rumors that the fire was carried out by Muslim arsonists, anti-Muslim violence spread throughout Gujarat.[45] Estimates of the death toll ranged from 900 to over 2,000, while several thousand more people were injured.[46][47] The Modi government imposed a curfew in major cities, issued shoot-at-sight orders, and called for the army to prevent the violence from escalating.[48][49] However, human rights organizations, opposition parties, and sections of the media all accused Gujarat's government of taking insufficient action against the riots, and even condoning it in some cases.[48][49][50] Modi's decision to move the corpses of the Kar Sevaks who had been burned to death in Godhra to Ahmedabad had been criticised for inflaming the violence.

In March 2008, the Supreme Court asked the state government to re-investigate nine cases in the 2002 Gujarat riots, including the Gulbarg Society incident, and constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the cases afresh.[50][53][54] Responding to a petition from Zakia Jafri, widow of Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre, the Supreme court in April 2009 asked the SIT to probe her complaint alleging that Modi and another minister had been complicit in the killing.[53][55] The SIT questioned Modi in March 2010, and in May 2010 presented its report before the Court, stating that it found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.[53][56] In July 2011, the amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran submitted his final report to the Supreme Court, stating that Modi could be prosecuted based on the available evidence, contrary to the position of the SIT. The Supreme court handed the matter to the magistrate court, and left it to the SIT to examine Ramachandran's report. Ramachandran's report was criticised by the SIT for relying on the testimony of Sanjiv Bhatt, who, it said, had fabricated the documents used as evidence.[57] The SIT submitted its final report in March 2012, seeking closure of the case. Zakia Jaffri filed a protest petition, which was rejected by the magistrate court in December 2013. The court stated that there was no evidence against Modi in the case.[58]

Modi's involvement in the events of 2002 has continued to be debated. Several scholars have described the events of 2002 as a pogrom, while others have called it an instance of state terrorism.[59][60][61] Summarizing academic views on the subject, Martha Nussbaum stated that "There is by now a broad consensus that the Gujarat violence was a form of ethnic cleansing, that in many ways it was premeditated, and that it was carried out with the complicity of the state government and officers of the law."[62]

In 2012, Maya Kodnani, a former minister in Modi's Government from 2007 – 2009, was convicted of having participated in the Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 riots.[63][64] She was both the first female and the first MLA to be convicted in a post-Godhra riots case.[65] While initially announcing that it would seek the death penalty for Kodnani, Modi's government eventually pardoned her in 2013 and settled for a prison sentence.[66][67][68]

2002 election

Main article: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2002

In the aftermath of the violence, there were widespread calls for Modi to resign from his position as chief minister of Gujarat. These came from both within and outside the state, including from the leaders of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Telugu Desam Party, which were allies in then BJP-led NDA government at the centre. The opposition parties stalled the national parliament over the issue.[69][70] In April 2002, at the national executive meeting of BJP at Goa, Modi submitted his resignation; however, it was rejected by the party.[71] On 19 July 2002, Modi's cabinet had an emergency meeting and offered its resignation to the Governor of Gujarat, S. S. Bhandari, and the assembly was dissolved.[72][73] In the subsequent elections, the BJP, led by Modi, won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly.[74] Modi made significant use of anti-Muslim rhetoric during his election campaign, though he later denied it.

Second term (2002–2007)

Despite allegations of using anti-Muslim rhetoric during the campaign, Modi's emphasis shifted during his second term from Hindutva to the economic development of Gujarat.[41][75] Modi's decisions curtailed the influence of organizations of the Sangh Parivar such as the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP),[79] which had become entrenched in Gujarat after the decline of Ahmedabad's textile industry.[41] Modi dropped Gordhan Zadafia, an ally of his former Sangh co–worker and VHP state chief Praveen Togadia, from the cabinet ministry. When the BKS launched a farmers' agitation, Modi ordered their eviction from houses provided by the state government. Modi's decision to demolish 200 illegal temples in Gandhinagar deepened the rift with VHP.[79][80] Various organisations of the Sangh were no longer consulted nor informed of Modi's administrative decisions prior to their enactment.

The changes brought by Modi in the period 2002–2007 has led to Gujarat being called an attractive investment destination. Aditi Phadnis writes that "there was sufficient anecdotal evidence pointing to the fact that corruption had gone down significantly in the state... if there was to be any corruption, Modi had to know about it".[41] Modi started financial and technology parks in the state. During the 2007 Vibrant Gujarat summit, real estate investment deals worth ?6.6 trillion were signed in Gujarat.[41]

Despite his focus on economic issues during the second term, Modi continued to be criticised for his relationship with Muslims. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then Prime Minister of India, who had asked Modi not to discriminate between citizens in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat violence and had pushed for his resignation as Chief Minister of Gujarat,[81][82] distanced himself from Modi and reached out to North Indian Muslims before the 2004 elections to the Lok Sabha. After the elections, Vajpayee held that the violence in Gujarat had been one of the reasons for BJP's electoral defeat and acknowledged that not removing Modi immediately after the Gujarat violence was a mistake.[83][84]

2007 election

Further information: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2007

In the run up to the assembly elections in 2007 and the general election in 2009, the BJP stepped up its rhetoric on terrorism.[85] On 18 July 2006, Modi criticised the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, "... for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislations" such as the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act. He asked the national government to allow states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the 2006 blasts in Mumbai.[86] Around this time Modi frequently demanded the execution of Afzal Guru,[87] a collaborator of the Pakistani jihadists who had been convicted of terrorism for his involvement in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.[88][b] As a consequence of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Modi held a meeting to discuss security of Gujarat's 1,600 km (990 mi) long coastline which resulted in the central government authorisation of 30 high–speed surveillance boats.[89]

In July 2007, Modi completed 2,063 consecutive days as chief minister of Gujarat, making him the longest-serving holder of that post.[90] The BJP won 122 of the 182 seats in the state assembly in the 2007 election, and Modi continued as chief minister.[91]

Third term (2007–2012)

Development projects

The Sardar Sarovar Dam, undergoing a height increase in 2006.

A skyscraper in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, under construction, described as a pet project of Narendra Modi.

Successive BJP governments under Patel and Modi supported NGOs and communities in the creation of infrastructure projects for conservation of groundwater. Gujarat is a semi-arid state and, according to Tushaar Shah, was "... never known for agrarian dynamism". By December 2008, 500,000 structures had been constructed, of which 113,738 were check dams. While most check dams remained empty during the pre-monsoon season, they helped recharge the aquifers that lie beneath them.[92] 60 of the 112 tehsils which were found to have over–exploited the groundwater table in 2004 had regained their normal groundwater level by 2010,[93] meaning that Gujarat had managed to increase its groundwater levels at a time when they were falling in all other Indian states. As a result, production of genetically-modified Bt cotton, which could now be irrigated using tube wells, increased to become the largest in India.[92] The boom in cotton production and utilization of semi–arid land[94] saw the agriculture growth rate of Gujarat increase to 9.6% in the period 2001–2007.[95] Though public irrigation measures in the central and southern areas, such as the Sardar Sarovar Project, have not been as successful in achieving their aims,[92] for the decade 2001–2010, Gujarat recorded an agricultural growth rate of 10.97%, the highest among all Indian states.[94] However, sociologists have pointed out that the growth rate under the Congress government during 1992-97 was at 12.9%.[96]

The Narendra Modi government also succeeded in bringing electricity to every village in Gujarat, although Dipankar Banerjee points out that all but 170 of them had been electrified under the previous Congress administration.[96] Modi also greatly changed the system of power distribution in the state, with a significant impact on farmers. The state greatly expanded the Jyotigram Yojana scheme, in which the agricultural electricity supply was rewired to separate it from other rural power supplies. The electricity supplied was then rationed to fit scheduled demand for irrigation, resulting in a cost reduction. Initial farmer protests died down when the farmers who benefited found that supply had become more regular.[92] An assessment study found that corporations and large farmers had significantly benefited from the policy, but that small farmers and laborers had been negatively impacted.[97]

In his third term, progress was made on the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City project, considered as one of Modi's pet projects. The first phase, which encompassed two skyscrapers, GIFT One and Two, was completed in 2012.[98][99]

Debate on Gujarat's development under Modi

Narendra Modi addressing law graduates at the Gujarat National Law University.

Modi's government has worked to brand Gujarat as a state of dynamic development, economic growth and prosperity, using the slogan "Vibrant Gujarat".[100][101][102] However, critics have pointed to Gujarat's relatively poor record on human development, poverty alleviation, nutrition, and education. The state is 13th in India for poverty, 21st for education, 44.7 percent of children under five are underweight and 23 percent are undernourished putting the state in the "alarming" category on the India State Hunger Index.[103] In contrast, officials from the state of Gujarat claim that Gujarat outperformed India as a whole in the rates of improvement of multiple human indicators, such as female education, between 2001 and 2011. Furthermore, they claim that the school dropout rates declined from 20 percent in 2001 to 2 percent in 2011, and that maternal mortality declined by 32 percent from 2001 to 2011.[104]

Political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot asserts that the development in Gujarat has been limited to the urban middle class, while rural dwellers and lower castes have become increasingly marginalised. He cites the fact that Gujarat ranks 10th among the 21 Indian states in the Human Development Index, which he attributes to the lower development in rural Gujarat. He states that under Modi, the number of families living below the poverty line has increased, and that particularly rural adivasi and dalits have become increasingly marginalised.[105] In July 2013, Economics Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen criticised Narendra Modi's governance record and said he did not approve of it, saying that under Modi's administration, Gujarat's "record in education and healthcare is pretty bad".[106] However, economists Arvind Panagariya and Jagdish Bhagwati state that Gujarat's social indicator improved from a much lower baseline than other Indian states. They state that Gujarat's performance in raising literacy rates has been superior to other states in India, and the "rapid" improvement of health indicators in Gujarat as evidence that "its progress has not been poor by any means."[107]

Sadbhavana mission and fasts

During late 2011 and early 2012, Modi undertook a series of fasts as part of a Sadbhavna Mission (Goodwill Mission), meant to reach out to the Muslim community in Gujarat.[108] Modi announced that he believed that his fast would "further strengthen Gujarat’s environment of peace, unity and harmony."[109]

The mission started on 17 September 2011 in Ahmedabad with a three-day fast. He subsequently observed 36 fasts in 26 districts and eight cities.[110] However, these fasts were not well received by all Muslims; for example, Modi's refusal to wear a skull cap offered to him by a Muslim cleric named Sayed Imam Shahi Saiyed[111] of a Dargah in Piranawas was deemed an insult by the cleric.[112] Another example occurred when Modi was fasting in Godhra, the site of the train burning that sparked the 2002 riots: a number of activists were detained for allegedly planning rallies against Modi.[113][114] Although some criticised his fast as a public relations mission,[115] Modi himself denied that the mission was about wooing "any particular community or religion".[116]

In 2011, the Supreme Court complimented the Gujarat Government for its land acquisition policy as there were "no complaints of any forcible acquisition" whereas issues of farmers and poor being uprooted are pouring in from all other states.[117]

Press and public relations

In 2011, the Gujarat state organisation of the Indian National Congress party banned the Gujarati-language TV 9 television channel from covering its events and prevented access to its press conferences.[118] Modi criticised this decision, saying that

Journalists on Twitter who spoke against Congress, were blocked. Here they banned a TV channel. Their crime is that they exposed cracks in the ghar nu ghar (own your home) scheme of the Congress. Yet this party talks about democracy.[119]

Modi interacted with netizens on Google+ on 31 August 2012.[120] The chat session was also broadcast live on YouTube.[120] The questions were submitted before the chat, and those broadcast were mostly based on issues about education, youth empowerment, rural development and causes of urbanisation.[121] The hashtag #ModiHangout became the most trending term in India at Twitter on the day of the session, whereas #VoteOutModi, used by Modi's opponents, became the third most trending term in the country.[120] The event made Modi the first Indian politician to interact with netizens through live chat on the internet.[122]

Fourth term (2012–2014)

Modi at the inauguration of a hospital in Kheda district, Gujarat.

Further information: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2012

In the 2012 Gujarat legislative assembly elections, Modi won from the constituency of Maninagar with a majority of 86,373 votes over Sanjiv Bhatt's wife, Shweta, who was contesting for the Indian National Congress.[123] The BJP won 115 of the 182 seats, continuing the majority that the party has had throughout Modi's tenure,[124] and allowing the party to form the government, as it has in Gujarat since 1995.[125]

In later by-elections, the BJP won an additional four assembly seats and 2 Lok Sabha seats that were all held by the Indian National Congress prior to the by-elections, even though Modi never campaigned for its candidates.[126] This brought the number of seats held by the BJP in the state assembly up to 119.

In 2013, the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania cancelled a keynote video-conference speech by Modi after some Indian-Americans lobbied against Modi.[127]

After being elected as Prime Minister, Modi resigned from the post of chief minister on 21 May 2014, and his MLA seat from the Maninagar constituency, after delivering a leaving speech described as emotional. Anandiben Patel was chosen as his replacement.[128]

Towards central politics

Path to candidacy for Prime Minister

Modi and other BJP leaders after the party's National Executive Meet. Modi was named the chairman of Central Election Campaign Committee during this meet.

Modi had been a significant figure in the 2009 national general election campaign.[129][130] On 31 March 2013, Modi was appointed to the BJP Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making body of the party.[131][132] On 9 June 2013, Modi was appointed Chairman of the BJP's Central Election Campaign Committee for the 2014 general election, at the national level executive meeting of BJP.[133] The party's senior leader and founding member Lal Krishna Advani resigned from all his posts at the party following the selection, protesting against leaders who were "concerned with their personal agendas"; the resignation was described by The Times of India as "a protest against Narendra Modi's elevation as the chairman of the party's election committee". However, Advani withdrew his resignation the next day at the urging of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.[134] In September 2013, BJP announced Modi as their prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha election.[135]

2014 general election campaign

Main article: Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for Indian general election, 2014

Modi addressing his first rally after being declared as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the NDA at Rewari, Haryana.

Narendra Modi contested the election from two constituencies: Varanasi[136] and Vadodara.[137] His candidacy was supported by spiritual leaders Ramdev and Morari Bapu,[138] and by economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya, who have stated that they, "...are impressed by Modi's economics." [139] His detractors included Nobel Prize laureate economist Amartya Sen, who said that he did not want Modi as a Prime Minister because he had not done enough to make minorities feel safe, and claimed that under Modi, Gujarat's record in health and education provision has been "pretty bad".[106]

Election victory

A BJP unit celebrated its party led alliance's victory in the 2014 Indian General Election under the leadership of Modi by raising the traditional Gudhi, a ritual normally performed in celebration of Hindu new year.

Modi won from both seats he contested; defeating Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, in Varanasi and Madhusudan Mistry of the Indian National Congress in Vadodara (by a margin of 5,70,128 votes, the second highest ever).[140] He led the BJP-led NDA to a decisive victory in the general elections in which the ruling Indian National Congress suffered its worst ever defeat.[141][142][143] Modi was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP parliamentary party following his party's victory in the Indian parliamentary elections and was subsequently appointed the prime minister by India's president.

Prime Minister of India

Main article: Swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi

Modi sworn in as prime minister on 26 May 2014 at the Rastrapati Bhavan. He is India's first prime minister born after the country's independence.[144] In a first of its kind, Modi invited all SAARC leaders to attend his swearing-in ceremony;[145] confirmed attendees include Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif,[146] Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Maldives president President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and speaker of Bangladesh Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam of Mauritius (SAARC observer).[147][148]

International diplomacy

Modi speaking at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2008 in New Delhi.

To attract foreign investment in Gujarat during his time as chief minister, Modi made visits to countries such as China, Singapore and Japan.[149] He also visited China in November 2006 to study the Special Economic Zones that were about to be implemented in Gujarat.[150] He again visited in September 2007[151] and later in November 2011. A month after his visit of 2011, the Chinese Government released 13 diamond traders from India who had been jailed by the Shenzhen Customs, which Modi attributed to his diplomatic efforts and statesmanship.[152][153]

In 2005, Modi was denied a diplomatic visa to the United States. In addition, the B-1/B-2 visa that had previously been granted to him was also revoked, under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act which makes any foreign government official who was responsible or "directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom" ineligible for the visa.[154] In July 2013, BJP president Rajnath Singh visited the US and gave a speech urging the US to grant Modi a visa to visit the country.[155][156] In response to Singh's visit, 65 Members of the Indian parliament allegedly signed a letter to US President Barack Obama requesting that the policy of denying Modi a visa be upheld.[157] However, the veracity of some of the signatures has been called into question, as Sitaram Yechury and purported signatories have denied ever signing such a petition[158] In March 2014, when asked if Washington was ready to do business with Modi, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal commented that "the United States has welcomed every leader (of India)", and "a democratically elected leader of India will be a welcome partner".[159]

A report in April 2014 in the Sunday Guardian revealed that by the end of 2012, a reversal in foreign policy towards Modi by Obama had occurred. Previously, during the tenure of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, efforts were made to "get Narendra Modi", apparently for the 2002 Gujarat riots, but in reality "for taking stands that may be different from that favoured by the US administration". The clandestine operation had run through European NGOs, and efforts were made to find mass-graves in Gujarat, which could be presented as "evidence of genocide" to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. According to the report, despite six years of searching, aided by local politicians, "no evidence whatsoever of mass graves was uncovered".[160] As the prospect of Modi becoming India’s leader became more real, U.S. diplomats reached out to him and tried to improve relations.[161]

In 2011, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, impressed with the development of Gujarat, invited Modi to visit Pakistan and address prominent business leaders. They also asked him to consider a flight between Karachi and Ahmedabad, on account of the historical cultural and economic relations between the two regions of Gujarat and Sindh. Modi wanted to help Pakistan out of its power crisis, especially in Sindh, suggesting Pakistan can follow the 'Gujarat Model' in two ways — Gujarat Solar Park and Kalpasar Project.[162]

In April 2014, in a move described as "unexpected", senior Pakistani diplomats told The Daily Telegraph that Modi is their preferred choice for the Prime Minister of India, "as he could provide the strong leadership necessary for peace talks".[163]

The United Kingdom refused to deal with Modi for a decade following the 2002 violence but lifted its diplomatic boycott in October 2012.[164] Later, in March 2013, the European Union, of which the UK is a member, also ended its boycott, saying that talking with Modi was a separate issue from that of protecting human rights and the rights of women.[165]

Although boycotted by Western nations, Modi visited Japan in 2012. According to Ryohei Kasai, research fellow at the Center for South Asian Studies, Gifu Women's University, Japan, "There is a growing interest in Modi in Japan with much anticipation that he will reshape India by revitalizing its economy and better governance. I believe Japan has an excellent relationship with him. Not only have successive Japanese ambassadors to India been regular guests in 'Vibrant Gujarat' investors' summit (organized biennially) but Japanese private companies also made a big amount of investment in the state."[166]

Personality and image

Narendra Modi meeting the South Korean ambassador in Gandhinagar.

Modi is a vegetarian.[167] He has a frugal lifestyle with a personal staff of three. He is a workaholic and an introvert.[168] He writes poems in Gujarati.[169] As a speaker, he is known as a crowd-puller.[170] In the critical opinion of Somini Sengupta, writing for the New York Times in a 2009 article on the Supreme Court's ordering of an investigation into Modi's role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, "Mr. Modi has assiduously sought to reinvent himself from a scruffy mascot of Hindu nationalism to a decisive corporate-style administrator"[50]

Modi has been labelled by the media and some articles in peer-reviewed journals as a controversial, polarising, and divisive figure,[171][172][173] but British economist Jim O'Neill, author of the BRIC report, wrote on his blog that Modi is "good on economics", one of the things that "India desperately needs in a leader".[174] In August 2013, financial analyst Chris Wood, chief strategist of CLSA, wrote in his weekly Greed & Fear that "the Indian stock market's greatest hope is the emergence of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate".[174]

Awards and recognitions

Gujarat Ratna by Shri Poona Gujarati Bandhu Samaj at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on celebration of centenary year.[175]

e-Ratna award by the Computer Society of India[176]

Best Chief Minister – In a nationwide survey conducted in 2007 by India Today magazine, Narendra Modi was declared the Best Chief Minister in the country.[177]

Asian Winner of the fDi Personality of the Year Award for 2009 by FDi magazine.[178]

In March 2012, Modi appeared on the cover of the Asian edition of Time, one of India's few politicians to have done so.[179]

Modi was featured in Time's 2014 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[180]

Source: WikiPedia

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Narendra Modi takes oath as India’s 15th Prime Minister at Rashtrapati Bhavan

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP’s) Narendra Modi was sworn in as India’s new Prime Minister on Monday in a ceremony attended by arch rival Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the first time in the two nations’ history.

Modi took the oath of office in the name of God at the ceremony in Rashtrapti Bhavan that started at 6pm with 3,000 guests.

The 63-year-old hardliner won a landslide election victory, handing him a powerful mandate to revive India’s stagnant economy and implement more assertive foreign policy after 10 years of left-leaning Congress party rule.

Modi invited Sharif to Monday’s ceremony in a first bold step aimed at mending strained ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Sharif, who has hailed Modi’s “impressive victory”, accepted the invite which was extended to all heads of government from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) which includes Pakistan.

“Great having leaders from Saarc nations and Mauritius join us during the ceremony. Their presence will make the occasion more memorable,” Modi said in a tweet on Sunday.

Modi, the son of a tea-stall owner, secured the biggest majority in 30 years at the election, trouncing the scandal-plagued Congress on a promise of reviving manufacturing and investment to create millions of jobs.

His pledge to overhaul the flagging economy won over voters, along with his rags-to-riches story and reputation as a clean and efficient chief minister of prosperous Gujarat.

Critics claimed Modi would favour the Hindu majority at the expense of the country’s 150 million Muslims and other religious minorities, but the warnings failed to dent his rise.

Reason for optimism

Many Muslims remain deeply suspicious of Modi, who is tainted by communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 that killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. Modi has denied he failed to stop the bloodshed and a court investigation found he had no case to answer.

Ordinary Indians and business leaders have sky-high expectations of what Modi will deliver in a chaotic and still poor country that is home to a sixth of humanity. With the economy growing at under 5%, analysts warn bold reforms are needed.

In a rare sign of emotion last week, Modi choked back tears as he promised to try to live up to the expectations of all Indians including “our weakest and poorest” during a speech in parliament.

Along with Sharif, other national leaders attending include Afghanistan’s outgoing President Hamid Karzai, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.

Modi will hold bilateral talks with Sharif on Tuesday with hopes the two can thaw ties and even take steps towards improving trade.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947 and bilateral ties broke down after the 2008 attacks by Pakistani gunmen on Mumbai in which 166 people were killed.

Relations warmed slightly toward the end of the term of outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but still remain frosty, with mutual distrust and regular skirmishes along their disputed Kashmir border.

Sharif has cited his working relationship with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India’s last BJP prime minister, as a reason for optimism, according to diplomatic sources.

In 1999, during Sharif’s second term in power, Vajpayee rode a bus to the Pakistani city of Lahore to sign a peace accord and raise hopes of normalized ties. But three months later, the neighbours embarked on the Kargil conflict in Kashmir that almost became a full-fledged war.

AFP

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HERE ARE THE LATEST UPDATES

1. Mr Modi confirmed last evening that he will have a lean cabinet. Arun Jaitley is tipped to be Finance Minister, BJP president Rajnath Singh is expected to get the Home Ministry, Sushma Swaraj could get External Affairs and Mr Modi, said sources, could keep the Defence portfolio. (Modi Visits Rajghat, Calls on Vajpayee)
2. Among those who have reportedly received early calls from the Rashtrapati Bhavan are the BJP's articulate spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad and General VK Singh, former Army Chief and now BJP MP from Ghaziabad. These leaders were among a group of leaders who had tea with Mr Modi earlier today at Gujarat Bhawan, where he has been camped in the capital. (Modi's Swearing-In: Who Will Attend, Who Will Give it a Miss)
3. BJP's allies in the National Democratic Alliance who may get Cabinet posts are Lok Janshakti Party leader Ramvilas Paswan, Shiv Sena leader Anant Geete, Telugu Desam Party's Ashok Gajapati Raju and Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
4. Other ministers of Cabinet rank will include Nitin Gadkari in an important portfolio, possibly a combined Transport ministry that could even include the Railways, sources said. (Also Read: Rajinikanth to Skip Modi's Swearing-In Ceremony)
5. Smriti Irani, 38, who took on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in a spirited contest in Amethi in the general election, is tipped to be a Cabinet minister, as is prominent leader Dr Harsh Vardhan from Delhi.
6. Among others expected to get top ministries are Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ananth Kumar, Maneka Gandhi and Venkaiah Naidu. (Also Read: Nawaz Sharif's Visit Raises Diplomatic Stakes)
7. Sources said that the 63-year-old Mr Modi wants a younger government and is unlikely to have any minister older than 75, triggering more speculation about roles for the older powerhouses in the party. Party patriarch LK Advani had reportedly expressed a wish to be Lok Sabha speaker, but, sources said, eight-time BJP MP from Indore Sumitra Mahajan, 71, is the forerunner for that role. (First Official Statement Confirms Modi will have Smaller Cabinet)
8. Arun Shourie may be appointed as key advisor to the government while Mukul Rohatgi is likely to be appointed as the attorney general.
9. Mr Modi's office said in a statement that he will be guided by the principle of "minimum government and maximum governance." He is expected to merge and restructure several ministries.
10. The statement promised "organic ministries" and said, "The focus is on convergence in the activities of various Ministries where one cabinet Minister will be heading a cluster of Ministries who are working in complimentary sectors. Mr Modi is eventually aiming at Smart Governance where the top layers of Government will be downsized and there would be expansion at the grass root level (sic)."

HERE ARE THE LIVE UPDATES:
18: 20 pm:Rajnath Singh takes oath as Home Minister.
Sushma Swaraj takes oath as new Foreign Minister.
Arun Jaitley takes oath as Cabinet minister.
Venkaiah Naidu takes oath as Cabinet minister.
Nitin Gadkari takes oath as Cabinet minister.
Ram Vilas Paswan takes oath as Cabinet minister.
Uma Bharati takes oath as Cabinet minister.
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi takes oath as Cabinet minister.
Ananth Kumar takes oath.
Ravi Shankar Prasad takes oath.
Ashok Gajapathi Raju takes oath.
Anant Geete takes oath.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal takes oath.
Narendra Singh Tomar takes oath.
Jual Oram takes oath.
Radha Mohan Singh takes oath.
Thawar Chand Gehlot takes oath.
Smriti Irani takes oath.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan takes oath.

18: 13 pm: President Pranab Mukherjee administers oath of office and secrecy to Narendra Modi.

18:06 pm: Modi sits next to Rajnath, gets a standing ovation.

18:05 pm: Vice-President Hamid Ansari arrives with wife.

17: 59 pm: Narendra Modi reaches Rashtrapati Bhavan.

17: 49 pm: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrives at Rashtrapati Bhavan for Modi's swearing-in ceremony.

17: 38 pm: Sonia Gandhi with Rahul reaches Rashtrapati Bhavan.

17:27 pm: LK Advani along with daughter Pratibha reaches Rashtrapati Bhavan. MurliManohar Joshi, P Chidambaram too arrive.

17: 18 pm: PMIndia.nic.in goes blank, text on the site says: Prime Minister's website under transformation. Will be up shortly.

Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi pays his respects at Rajghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, in New Delhi on Monday.

17: 18pm: Mukesh Ambani, Nita Ambani, Murli Manohar Joshi reach the venue.

17: 17pm: Nawaz Sharif to Headlines Today: I will assure Modi of expediting 26/11 trial
2. Sharif to Headlines Today:  There will be no blowback of terror from Afghanistan after US withdrawal
3. Modi personally invited Nawaz Sharif before the formal invitation was given to Pak
4. Modi knew Sharif was coming, also about the delay in formal announcement: Headlines Today
5. Sharif to Headlines Today: Pakistan favours resumption of dialogue, not necessarily the composite dialogue structure
6. Nawaz Sharif will not meet Hurriyat leaders during this visit.
7. Sharif may demand bilateral talks move to higher levels than the secretary-level talks

17:15pm: Murli MahoharJoshi reaches Rashtrapati Bhavan.

17: 09: Sushma Swaraj reaches Rashtrapati Bhavan

17:07 pm: Guests start arriving for the ceremony.

17:00pm: Nawaz Sharif leaves hotel to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony.

16:51 pm: Dr.Manmohan Singh meets Nepal PM Sushil Koirala.

16:48 pm: Lata Mangeskar not to attend the swearing-in ceremony, writes letter to Modi. Acknowledging which, Modi tweets: Thank you Lata Didi. As always, your greetings and best wishes inspire me deeply.

16:44 pm: Miffed Vasundhara Raje meets all 25 BJP MPs from Rajasthan.

16:34 pm: Narendra Modi tweets: A big thank you to all friends who will be viewing the ceremony on TV and through social media. Your constant support & blessings mean a lot.

16: 27pm: Pakistan will expedite 26/11 probe: Nawaz Sharif

15.42 pm: Nripendra Mishra is new PMO secretary, Ajit Doval is new National Security Adviser.

15.29 pm: Day of rejoicing for those who believe in democracy, assure we shall fulfill each pledge that we made: Smriti Irani

14.16 pm: Maldives President Abdulla Yameen arrives in Delhi to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony pic.twitter.com/Byf8Ohp3U7

14.03 pm: Hope Modi will live up to expectations: Nawaz Sharif's son Hussain

13.49 pm: PM-designate Narendra Modi offers condolence to families of those killed in Gorakhdham Express tragedy. Prays for the injured. READ STORY

13. 46 pm: Rajnath Singh's security to be upgraded to Z+ category as he is all set to become Union Home Minister.

13.28 pm: Hema Malini on Modi : People have high hopes from him, am sure he will fulfill them

13.24 pm: Dharmendra on Modi : Jis nagri ke badshah faqir hote hain ho uss nagri ke faqir badshah hote hain

13.23 pm: Yes I am the sole minister from Shiv Sena in the cabinet, more will be inducted after cabinet expansion in a month: Anant Geete, Shiv Sena

Here is the list of Modi Cabinet Ministers: READ FULL STORY1. Rajnath Singh
2. Arun Jaitley
3. Nitin Gadkari
4. Sushma Swaraj
5. Venkaiah Naidu
6. Sadanand Gowda
7. Uma Bharti
8. Najma Heptullah
9. Gopinath Munde
10. Ramvilas Paswan
11. Kalraj Mishra
12. Maneka Gandhi
13. Ananth Kumar
14. Ravi Shankar Prasad
15. Ashok Gajapathi Raju
16. Anant Geete
17. Harsimrat Kaur Badal
18. Narendra Singh Tomar
19. Jual Oram
20. Radha Mohan Singh
21. Thawar Chand Gehlot
22. Smriti Irani
23. Dr. Harsh Vardhan
24. Narendra Modi (Defence)

11.31 am: The following will take oath as ministers of state.

1. VK Singh
2. Rao Inderjeet Singh
3. Santosh Kumar Gangwar
4. Sripad Naik
5. Dharmendra Pradhan
6. Sarbananda Sonowal
7. Prakash Javadekar
8. Piyush Goyal
9. Dr. Jitendra Singh
10. Nirmala Sitharaman
11. GM Siddeshwara
12. Manoj Sinha
13. Upendra Kushwaha
14. Pon Radhakrishnan
15. Kiren Rijiju
16. Krishan Pal Gujjar
17. Sanjiv Baliyan
18. Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava
19. Raosaheb Dadarao Patil Danve
20. Vishnudev Sai
21. Sudarshan Bhagat

11.27 am: 24 Cabinet ministers, 11 Ministers of State and 10 Independent Charges will be sworn in today

11.10 am: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrives in India. READ FULL STORY

11.00 am: Mahinda Rajapaksa arrives in India, Vaiko and MDMK workers protest. READ FULL STORY

We have come to Delhi to register our protest to the arrival of the Butcher of Tamils, the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

09.54 am: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrives in Delhi to attend Narendra Modi's swearing in ceremony. READ FULL STORY

09.38 am: 34 ministers to take oath today with Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi. List of Cabinet ministers sent to President.

09.37 am: Sensex regains 25,000 level. READ FULL STORY

09.35 am: Prime Minister of Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam arrives in Delhi to attend Narendra Modi's swearing in ceremony 

09.00 am:Sushma Swaraj arrives to meet Narendra Modi

8.10 am: Modi leaves to meet Atal Bihari Vajpayee and seek his blessings ahead of his swearing in.

 =============================

30 things you should know about Narendra Modi

Last updated on: September 14, 2013 00:36 IST

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Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi

So Narendra Modi has finally gate-crashed New Delhi. The state-level political leader from a medium-sized Indian state has arrived in Delhi seeking the prime minister’s chair, no less.

While the country will take its time to make up its mind, Modi has shown that he is a man in a hurry and will not leave any stone unturned to achieve his dream.

So who really is Narendra Modi? Do we really know him? What are his personal habits, for one?

Sheela Bhatt compiles a list of things, both unknown and known, about the latest challenger to the New Delhi throne. These highlights from Modi's life should be read along with our two-part series:

How Modi poses a threat as well as opportunity for Cong

Polarisation or development? Narendra Modi's big dilemma

1. Vadnagar, an ancient town that’s almost 2,500 years old, is Narendra Damordas Mulchand Modi’s birthplace. Indians strongly identify themselves with their janambhoomi, and Modi is no different. He likes the Hatkeswar Mahadeo temple, built in the 15th century, in his home town. His birthplace is unique in that it saw both Hinduism and Buddhism flourish. It is also a highly cultured town that is famous for singer-duo Tana and Riri who stumped none other than the legendary Tansen in the Mughal king Akbar’s durbar.

Vadnagar was once the capital of Gujarat and has a proud place in history also because the Chinese scholar Hsüan-tsang visited it during his 17-year journey through India in the seventh century and has narrated Vadnagar in detail in his fascinating memoirs.

2. Modi was born on September 17, 1950. He makes it a point to take the blessings of his mother Heeraben on his birthday. He bonds reasonably well with his four brothers and sister but doesn’t display it in public. His wife's name is Jashoda, and the couple separated soon after marriage.  

3. The most striking personal habit of Modi is to wear well-ironed and wrinkle-free clothes, a habit he retains from his teenage years when he would fill hot water in a brass lota and iron his shirt using the vessel’s heated bottom. He continues to lay stress on dressing well and, judging by his public appearances over the last couple of years he owns hundreds of kurtas, all of them tailored by his favourite darzi in a posh shop on Ahmedabad’s CG Road. Everyone knows that he is crazy about wrist watches and sandals.