Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat.
He was born in a middle class family in Vadnagar. Modi was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife, Heeraben. He is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood, and also an active politician since early in life. He holds a master's degree in political science. In 1998, he was chosen by L. K. Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to direct the election campaign in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh.
He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001, promoted to the office at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. His tenure as chief minister of Gujarat began on 7 October 2001, and he is the longest serving Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat. In July 2007 he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously. He was elected again for a third term on 23 December 2007 in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule".In March 2012 he became the fourth Politician from India to get published on the cover page of TIME magazine.
Personal life
Modi was born in a middle class family in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of what was then Bombay State, India. During the Indo-Pak war in the mid sixties, even as a young boy, he volunteered to serve the soldiers in transit at railway stations. As a young man, he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student organization and was involved in the anti-corruption Nav Nirmāṇ ("Reconstruction") Movement. After working as a full time organizer for the organization, he was later nominated as its representative in the Bharatiya Janata Party. As a teenager Modi used to run a tea stall with his brother. Modi completed his schooling in Vadnagar. He earned a masters degree in political science from Gujarat University.Early activism and politics
Modi was a Pracharak in the RSS during his university years. He took up the challenging task of energizing the party cadres in right earnest. In partnership with Shankersinh Vaghela, Modi set about creating a strong cadre base in Gujarat. In the initial period, Vaghela was seen as a mass leader, while Modi was recognised as a master strategist.
The party started gaining political mileage and formed a coalition government at the centre in April 1990. This partnership fell apart within a few months, but the BJP came to power with a two-thirds majority on its own in Gujarat in 1995. During this period, Modi was entrusted with the responsibility of organizing two crucial national events, the Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra (a political rally through India on a converted Toyota van) of L.K. Advani and a similar march from Kanyakumari (the southernmost part of India) to Kashmir in the North. After the exit of Shankarsingh Vaghela from the BJP, Keshubhai Patel was made Chief Minister while Narendra Modi was sent to New Delhi as a General Secretary of the Party.
In 1995, Modi was appointed the National Secretary of the party and given the charge of five major states in India. In 1998, he was promoted as the General Secretary (Organization), a post he held until October 2001. In 2001, Narendra Modi was chosen by the party to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat after the removal of chief minister Keshubhai Patel.
Tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat
Personality
Modi is known for leading a frugal lifestyle. He has a personal staff of just three. He is known to be a workaholic Chief Minister and an introvert. He ordered the demolition of many Hindu temples that were built without proper government sanction which earned him the ire of VHP He is a crowd puller as a speaker. Modi has also tried to turn his image from an Hindu Nationalist politician to an image of able administrator. He wears business suits and is improving his command over the English language.
Development of Gujarat
As a Chief Minister, Modi started various 'yojanas' or plans. This includes:
- Panchamrut Yojana, a five-pronged strategy for an integrated development of the state,
- Sujalam Sufalam, a scheme to create a grid of water resources in Gujarat in an innovative step towards water conservation and its appropriate utilization.
- Krishi Mahotsav – agricultural research labs for the land
- Chiranjeevi Yojana – To reduce infant mortality rate
- Matru Vandana – Providing preventive and curative services under the Reproductive and Child Health Programme
- Beti Bachao – Campaign against female infanticide to improve sex ratio
- Jyotigram Yojana – Provide electricity to every village
- Karmayogi Abhiyan – To educate and train government employees
- Kanya Kelavani Yojana – To encourage female literacy and education
- Balbhog Yojana – Midday meal scheme for students to encourage school attendance from poor backgrounds.
Vibrant Gujarat
Vibrant Gujarat is a biennial Global Investors' Summit held by the Government of Gujarat in Gujarat, India. The event is aimed at bringing together business leaders, investors, corporations, thought leaders, policy and opinion makers; the summit is advertised as a platform to understand and explore business opportunities in the State of Gujarat. the event has been held continuously since 2003.
Gujarat earthquake
The biggest challenge which he had to face when he took over as the Chief Minister, was the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the areas affected by the massive Gujarat Earthquake of January 2001.
Gujarat violence
On 27 February 2002, a train was burned by a mob of Muslim extremists in the town of Godhra leading to 59 deaths, most of them Hindu pilgrims and activists returning from the holy city of Ayodhya. Riots broke out in the state after rumours spread that it was caused by Muslims, leading to 1180 deaths, many of them Muslims. Modi administration was accused of inaction over the riots and for encouraging them. As an aftermath of the riots, there were calls for Modi to resign from his position as chief minister of Gujarat. The opposition parties stalled the national parliamentover the issue. Even Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), allies of the BJP, asked for Modi's resignation. Modi submitted his resignation to the Governor and recommended the dissolution of the 10th Gujarat Legislative Assembly. In the following state re-elections the BJP, led by Modi, won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly.
In April 2009, the Supreme Court of India appointed a special team of investigators to look into the role Modi had played in the alleged anti-Muslim conspiracy. The team was appointed in response to the complaint of Jakia Jafri, the widow of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was murdered in the riots. In December 2010, a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) in its report to the Supreme Court seeking answers pertaining to the Ehsan Jafri case, submitted that they had found no evidence against Narendra Modi.
However in February 2011, the Times of India reported that a confidential report from the SIT indicted Modi on several counts of alleged complicity in the Gujarat riots of 2002. Most other sources have noted that the SIT report does not indict Modi for the riots due to lack of evidence. The Indian Express too said the report did not find any Modi involvement in the violence, though it did accuse him of watering down the seriousness of the situation. According to the Hindu, the report not only found that Modi tried to water down the seriousness of the situation, but Modi also implicitly justified the killings of Muslims, and failed to condemn the attacks on them. The Bharatiya Janata Party demanded an investigation into the publication of the report, claiming the leak was politically motivated.
The apex court refused to pass any order on the case and referred it to the Ahmedabad magistrate for a decision.
2007 elections
Modi made a speech at Mangrol in which he justified the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, During the election campaign In response to Sonia Gandhi's speech calling him a "merchant of death", and referred to Sohrabuddin's killing. For this speech the Election Commission of India, a constitutional body governing election proceedings in India, cautioned Modi as it considered it as indulging in an activity which may aggravate existing differences between different communities. Modi won the election and continued his post as the Chief Minister Of Gujarat.Mr.Narendra Modi has got clear majority with 122 seats out of 182 total assembly seats.
Conflicts with Governor Kamla Beniwal
On 25 August 2011 Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal appointed Justice R A Mehta to the post of Lokyukta of Gujarat, a critical anti-corruption post that had been lying vacant since 2003. Justice R A Mehta was recommended for the post by the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in June. Since Governor Beniwal had made this decision without consulting and getting the approval of the chief minister and his council of ministers, the action angered Narendra Modi and his BJP party.
This marked the beginning of a strained relationship between Modi and the Governor. On 25 September 2011, Narendra Modi accused the Governor of running a parallel government in the state supported by the Congress. He demanded that she be recalled back. He also later accused her of delaying the progress of bills by not passing them.
The decision of the governor in the appointment of R A Mehta was challenged in the high court by the Modi government. The two member high court bench gave a split verdict on 10 October 2011. Later, a third member upheld the governor's decision in January 2012. This was a major setback to Modi.
Foreign visits
As the Chief Minister of the Gujarat State, to attract foreign investment in the state, Narendra Modi has made visits to foreign countries, including China and Singapore.
Narendra Modi made his first China visit in 2007 to invite investors Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit, and second visit in November 2011. One month after the second visit to China, the Chinese Government released 13 Diamond traders from India jailed by the Shenzhen Customs, which the Chief Minister described as the consequece of his diplomatic efforts and statesmanship.
In 2005 Narendra Modi was denied of diplomatic visa to the United States, in addition to this visa denial, he was also revoked from his already granted B-1/B-2 visa.
Sadbhavna Mission
In the late 2011-early 2012 Narandra Modi had a series of fasts named as Sadbhavna Mission. The mission started on 17 September 2011 in Ahmedabad with 3 day fast with a view to strengthen the atmosphere of peace, unity and harmony in the state. He observed total 36 fasts in 26 districts, 8 cities including Ahmedabad.
Views and opinions
Modi's position on terrorism
On 18 July 2006 Modi delivered a speech criticizing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislations" like the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He asked the Centre to empower states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the blasts in Mumbai. Quoting Modi:
| “ | Terrorism is worse than a war. A terrorist has no rules. A terrorist decides when, how, where and whom to kill. India has lost more people in terror attacks than in its wars. | ” |
Narendra Modi has frequently commented that if the BJP came to power at the Centre, they will honor the 2004 Supreme Court judgement to hang Afzal Guru. Afzal was convicted of terrorism in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack in 2004 by the Supreme Court of India and is in Tihar Jail.
On account of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, on Thursday 27 November, Narendra Modi held a meeting to discuss waterfront security along the coastline. The meeting decided to ask the Central government to urgently sanction the following:
- Increase the number of police stations along the coast to 50 (from 10)
- Increase the number of police to 1500 from 250
- 30 modern high-speed surveillance boats.
The 30 coastal boats, under construction at Goa's ship-building yard, will have the capacity to run at the speed of 25 nautical miles per hour. These are being manufactured under the Centre's Rs 58-crore grant for coastal security.
Views on criticism of Modi's governance
In 2003, when Narendra Modi was asked about the conflict of his dreams for Gujarat's future with international criticism of his past activities, Modi said:
| “ | Yet, no one has asked this question to the USA after 9/11. Delhi is developing fast – no one has asked this question to Delhi after 1984. If it does not matter to Delhi and USA, why should it matter to Gujarat? | ” |
Modi's decision to link Gujarat's ferocious communal violence with the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US drew criticism from some observers, who contrasted it with the then Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani's unpleasant apology for Gujarat in London a year ago.
Responding to The Guardian's criticism in this matter, Modi replied:
| “ | I have not read and I would not like to read. But thank you for people spending time on me | ” |
