BIRTH AND PARENTING
Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi was born on 17th September 1950 to a Gujarati Family in Vadnagar, a small town in North Gujarat’s Mehsana district. He has a very modest beginning and his father Damodardas Mulchand Modi was a small tea stall owner. His mother Hiraben was a housewife. He and his brother helped their father in selling tea at the tea stall located near the railway station. Later on he started his own stall.
SCHOOL EDUCATION
Narendra Modi started his school education in village school and in 1967 he completed his higher secondary education in Vadnagar. At the age of 8 he was introduced to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He used to spend a lot of his time in the library as he had great interest in reading books. He was also fond of swimming. Thus, we have seen his formative years were full of struggle but he did not give up and kept on his journey.
JOINED NCC AND VISITS AT VARIOUS ASHRAMS
Narendra Modi also joined NCC and wanted to join the Army but due to strong opposition from the family he could not do so. He left the home when he was 17 as he did not want to marry. He visited several ashrams founded by Swami Vivekananda and travelled widely for the next two years. He got married in 1968 to Jashodaben and lived with her for a short period. During this period he learned much from the experienced people. After some time, again he left for Ahmedabad. There he lived with his uncle, who worked at the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation.
JOINING RSS
Narendra Modi had a strong patriotic vision and wanted to serve Mother India. During that period he was much influenced by the ideology of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), so he joined this religious nationalist organization and became full time pracharak. RSS played a major role in uplifting his political career. In the early 1970s, he founded a unit of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s students wing that was named Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Due to poor economic conditions he could not get regular education but it did not prevent him from pursuing higher education. Narendra Modi had completed the Bachelor of Arts degree from School of Open Learning at University of Delhi and later he obtained Master degree in political science from Gujarat University.
During the emergency in 1975 Narendra Modi was forced to go into hiding. While in RSS he was assigned various responsibilities that he carried out very efficiently. He exhibited a high grade of organizing skill. In 1987 he was made General Secretary of BJP in Gujarat state. Later, he won a victory for the BJP in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation elections for the first time ever. He played a vital role in extending and elevating the political base of Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat.
Narendra Modi worked as the National Secretary of BJP from 1995 and was assigned to look after the party’s activities in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. In 1998, he worked to ensure the BJP won the Lok Sabha election.
CHIEF MINISTER OF GUJARAT
Narendra Modi was made the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001 due to deteriorating health conditions of then Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel. He worked immensely to encourage the economic growth of the state. In the February 2002 by-election Narendra Modi won a seat in the state assembly. During his tenure Gujarat riots took place. He was allegedly accused of riots but later the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team found no evidence to initiate prosecution proceedings against him.
In October 2013 Narendra Modi became the first chief minister of the state to complete twelve years. He did not look back after becoming the Chief Minister of Gujarat and led the party from the front and threw the opposition to the fringe.
PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA
In 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party won with a clear majority and he was made Prime Minister. He led the government with the popular motto of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ development-oriented and corruption-free governance. Narendra Modi government is credited with starting Ayushman Bharat Yojna, a health insurance scheme, launched on September 23, 2018; Rural electrification programme; Free LPG Cylinders under the Ujjwala Yojana scheme; Swachh Bharat Mission; Digital transfer of subsidies and the implementation of GST. During his premiership our foreign relations have improved immensely and especially topmost nations of the world are recognizing India.
Again on 30th May, 2019 the BJP won the election with landslide victory under his leadership and he was made the Prime Minister of India.
On 9th June 2024, Narendra Modi was miraculously sworn in as India’s Prime Minister for the third time, following a decisive win in the 2024 Parliamentary elections. This victory marked his third consecutive term, further cementing his leadership.
The 2024 elections witnessed a remarkable voter turnout, with a significant portion of the electorate reaffirming their confidence in Narendra Modi’s leadership and vision for the nation. His campaign, which emphasized a mix of economic development, national security, and social welfare programs, resonated strongly with the public.