Narendra Damodardas Modi who was born on 17 September 1950 is the 14th and current Chief Minister of Gujarat. He holds a master's degree in political science. He has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood, having an interest in politics since adolescence.
He became the chief minister of Gujarat for the first time 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 began on 7 October 2001. In July 2007, he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously. Under his leadership Bhartiya Janata Party won 2012 State Assembly Elections and he was chosen to serve for this fourth term as Chief Minister of Gujarat. Modi enjoys considerable support amongst the Indian middle class and Indian and international entrepreneurs. He is credited with the high economic growth in Gujarat under his government. Modi is one of the few Indian politicians who have never faced allegations of corruption.
Personality:
He is known for leading a frugal lifestyle. He has a personal staff of three. He is known to be a workaholic and an introvert. He is a crowd puller as a speaker. He is a vegetarian.
Early life:
Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a family of grocers in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of then Bombay State (present-day Gujarat), India. He was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife Heeraben. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Modi, who was then a teenager, volunteered to serve the soldiers in transit at railway stations. As a teenager Modi used to run a tea stall with his brother. Modi completed his schooling in Vadnagar. Modi is an average student, but a keen debater. At 18 years of age, Modi abandoned his home and set off for the Himalayas to become a sanyasi (mendicant).
He returned two years later and started working in the staff canteen of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation, where he stayed till he became a full–time pracharak (propagandist) of the RSS. After Modi completed RSS' level one training from Nagpur, a prerequisite for taking up an official position in the Sangh Parivar (coalition of Hindu nationalist organisations), he was given charge of Sangh's student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in Gujarat. Even though Modi had little regard for Sangh's protocols, Vinod Jose describes Modi's reputation in the Sangh as that of "an efficient and dutiful organiser: if the leaders entrusted him with a task, they could be sure it would be completed". Modi organized agitations and covert distribution of Sangh's pamphlets during the Emergency. During his years in the RSS, Modi came in touch with Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal Jaghda, leaders of the Jan Sangh, who later founded BJP's Gujarat state.
As an RSS member and early politics:
Modi remained a full–time pracharak in the RSS while he completed his master's degree in political science from Gujarat University. RSS deputed Modi to the BJP in 1987. Between 1985–1992, a series of communal violence in Gujarat consolidated BJP's support among Hindus in the state. While Shankarsingh Vaghela and Keshubhai Patel were the front runners in BJP, Modi rose to prominence after organizing Murli Manohar Joshi's Ekta yatra (journey for unity). Modi's electoral strategy scripted BJP's victory in the 1995 state elections in Gujarat. According to Zee News' profile of Modi, "Vaghela was regarded as a mass leader, Modi was recognized as a master strategist".
Modi's interference in governance despite not holding any constitutional post prompted Patel to ask for his transfer from BJP's state unit. Modi was shifted to Delhi as the General Secretary of the BJP. Vaghela, who had threatened to break away from BJP in 1995, defected from the BJP after he lost the 1996 Lok Sabha elections. In 1998, Modi was promoted to the post of National Secretary in the BJP. While selecting candidates for 1998 state elections in Gujarat, Modi sidelined Vaghela's loyalists and rewarded Patel's loyalists to end factional divisions within the party.
Patel's failing health, allegation of abuse of power, poor administration, slide in BJP's seats in by-elections and devastating Bhuj Earthquake of 2001 prompted BJP's central leadership to look for a new Chief Ministerial candidate. Modi, who had aired his misgivings about Patel's administration, was chosen as a replacement. L. K. Advani, a senior leader of the BJP, however, did not want to ostracize Patel and was worried about Modi's lack of experience in governance. It was suggested that Modi should be made the deputy Chief Minster in a government led by Patel. Modi informed Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee that he was "going to be fully responsible for Gujarat or not at all" and declined the proposal. On 7 October 2001, Modi was made the Chief Minister of Gujarat and was assigned the responsibility to prepare BJP for elections in December 2002. As a Chief Minister, Modi's ideas of governance revolved around privatisation and small government which stood at odds with RSS' "anti–privatisation, anti–globalisation postition".
2002 Godhra Violence:
The burning to death of Hindus by Muslims on board a train triggered off communal violence in Gujarat in February 2002. The event triggered widespread communal violence in Gujarat. 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were ultimately killed. The Modi administration was accused of insufficient action over the violence and suspected of encouraging them. However, Narendra Modi had promptly issued shoot at sight orders and called for Army to prevent the violence from worsening, but given the massive reaction to Godhra carnage, the combined strength of Indian army and State Police too proved insufficient, as confirmed by the media reports on 1 March. Modi administration promptly imposed an indefinite curfew in 26 sensitive cities to ensure that violence do not spread, as reported by The Hindu on 1 March.
One testimony implicated Modi directly in the governments lack of response to the violence. A survivor of the massacre against 200 Muslims who had taken refuge in the home of of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri stated that Jafri had called Modi personally during the attack, and that Modi refused sending any police assistance to the site. Modi denied ever having received the call. In April 2009, the Supreme Court of India appointed a special team of investigators to look into Modi's role in the anti-Muslim violence. The team was appointed in response to the complaint of Zakia Jafri, Jafri's widow. 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.
Investigation Reports of Godhra Violence:
Zakia Jafri's complaint alleged that 63 people including Modi had prevented police form reaching violence hit areas. The probe by SIT could not establish that her husband had made these calls to the Chief Minister's office. It found her claims to be unsubstatiated because some of the officers listed in her complaint were posted outside in Ahmedabad when violence took place, she took four years to file a complaint and senior officials could not be held liable for not personally visiting the violence–affected areas.
The recent report of Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team led by R. K. Raghavan, former director of India's premier investigation agency CBI, gave a clean chit to Gujarat government and observed that Gujarat Police tried everything to prevent the violence. On Narendra Modi's role the Special Investigation Team report states, Law and order review meetings were held by Modi and all the things was done to control the situation... the Army was called on time to contain the communal violence. Modi was busy with steps to control the situation, establishment of relief camps for victims and also with efforts to restore peace and normalcy.
In view of the detailed inquiry and satisfactory explanation of the person involved, no criminal case is made out against Narendra Modi.
Modi's statement on 2002 violence:
"There is no question of apologising because if I have committed this crime, then I should not be forgiven, I should be hanged. And I should be hanged in such a way that people should learn a lesson for 100 years that nothing like this should happen. If I have not committed the crime, then the nation and the media especially should seek my forgiveness."
2002 Victory:
As an aftermath of the violence, there were calls for Modi to resign from his position as chief minister of Gujarat. The opposition parties stalled the national parliament over the issue and demanded resignation of Modi. Modi submitted his resignation and the state Assembly was dissolved. In the resultant elections the BJP, led by Modi, won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly with a 2/3rd majority.
Hindutva to Economic Development:
During his second term, Modi's emphasis shifted from Hindutva to economic development of Gujarat. Modi's decisions curtailed the influence of organizations of the Sangh Parivar such as the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), which had become entrenched in Gujarat after the decline of Ahmedabad's textile industry. Modi dropped Gordhan Zadaphia, ally of Modi's former Sangh co–worker and VHP state chief Praveen Togadia, from the cabinet ministry. When 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. Various organizations of the Sangh were no longer consulted or kept in loop about Modi's admintrative decisions.
Between 2002–2007, Gujarat emerged as an attractive investment destination. Aditi Phadnis, author of Political Profiles Of Cabals & Kings and columnist in the Business Standard, 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". Modi instituted financial and technology parks in the state. During the 2007 Vibrant Gujarat summit, real estate investment deals worth 6.6 lakh crore (6600 billion) were signed in Gujarat. 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 when was compared to Hitler, Pol Pot and Slobodan Milosovic responded to the criticism by The Guardian, saying "I have not read and I would not like to read. But thank you people for spending time on me.
Modi on Terrorism:
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. - Modi
Third Term as CM (2007-2012):
Modi won the election and continued his post as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he won with majority of votes of 122 seats out of 182 total assembly seats.
Successive BJP governments under Patel and Modi supported NGOs and communities in creation of infrastructural projects for conservation of groundwater. By December 2008, 500,000 structures were constructed of which 113,738 were check dams. While most check dams remained empty during the Pre monsoon season, they helped recharge the aquifers. 60 of the 112 Tehsils which were found to have over–exploited groundwater table in 2004, had regained there normal groundwater level by 2010. As a result, yields of Bt cotton, which could now be irrigated using tube wells, increased to become the largest in India. The boom in cotton production and utilization of semi–arid land saw the agriculture growth rate of Gujarat increase to 9.6% in the period 2001–2007. For the decade 2001–2010, Gujarat recorded a Compound annual growth rate of 10.97%, the highest among all Indian states.
During late 2011 and early 2012, Narandra Modi undertook a series of fasts as part of the Sadbhavna Mission, to reach out to the Muslim community in Gujarat. The mission started on 17 September 2011 in Ahmedabad with a three-day fast aimed at strengthening the atmosphere of peace, unity, and harmony in the state. He observed 36 fasts in 26 districts and 8 cities, including Ahmedabad.
Gujarat state Congress banned a television channel TV 9 from covering its events, and prohibited access to its press conferences and other events. A communication in this regard was sent to all district units of the party. Narendra Modi criticised this muzzling of the freedom of press by saying, 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.
Modi's magic on social networking sites:
Modi interacted with netizens on Google+ on 31 August 2012. The chat session was also live broadcast on YouTube, and Modi took part in it through Ahmedabad. The chat was schedule to start at 20:00 IST, but began 45 minutes late because of the reported crash of Google+ due to the response. The questions were to be submitted before the chat, and were mostly based on issues about education, youth empowerment, rural development and causes of urbanisation.
Modi became the first Indian politician to interact with netizens through live chat on Internet after the hangout. Google+'s Hangout feature allows ten people to group chat at a single time. The same day the hangout was organized, the Gujarat High Court gave its statement on the Naroda Patiya massacre. 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. A day before the session, Modi tweeted, "Friends, I am looking forward to exchanging ideas with you on G+ Hangout tomorrow on 'Realising Swami Vivekananda's vision of Strong India'!" The chat session was also shown on Modi's YouTube channel in real time. The chat was hosted by Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn.
Modi answered 18 questions in two sessions. The session didn't include many Gujarati people, with more people from other states and NRIs. Modi received one lakh questions. When asked about his definition of the word secular, he said, "Think that our nation must be on top in all respects. That is secularism, according to me," adding,"The word secular has been used and abused for votebank politics. Take the example of the microminority of Parsis who are a happy community living in Gujarat today."
Google+ : The first Indian politician to open an account in Google+, watched by millions of people across 160 nations. In four months more than 280,330 people had him in their circle.Twitter. The Gujarat Chief Minister has a huge fan following on Twitter( 1.1 million as on 23rd October 2012 reached within a year of opening the account). Narendra Modi has anofficial page with1,398,140 likes and107,545 talking about it.Narendramodi.inPolitical blogs:http://indiapoliticalblog.cYoutube channel http://www.youtube.com.
Modi was already a very amiable figure among the people of Gujarat, owing to the massive amount of development the place has undergone under his regime. Attaining the support of the younger sections of the society will ensure that he commands a lot of power for a very long period of time. His ability to understand the fact that people want politicians who can engage with them and who are not afraid of answering questions is commendable. Modi clearly has joined the likes of Barack Obama and created a political brand for himself on the social networking scene. Moreoever, it is only human to have a liking for someone whom one can easily approach, Modi’s easy availability and the fact that he is very active in connecting with people only adds to his charm. Also, maintaining good relations with and roping in an eminent Bollywood star to host a hangout for him is an extremely clever strategy on part of Mr Modi as it will only help him get more folks to watch it and engage with him.
International diplomacy:
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, Singapore and Japan.
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 consequence of his diplomatic efforts and statesmanship.
In 2005 Narendra Modi was denied diplomatic visa to the United States, in addition to this visa denial, his already granted B-1/B-2 visa 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.
For ten years after the 2002 violence, the United Kingdom refused to deal with Narendra Modi, but the UK changed this policy in October 2012. Similarly, the European Union ended over a decade-old boycott of Modi in 2012, delinking his image from any human rights issues.
Fourth Term as CM:
Narendra Modi has scored a hat-trick in the state Assembly elections with the Bharatiya Janata Party winning just short of its 2007 tally of 117 seats, while the Congress was one better at 61. With this win, the big question now is as to what does this mean for national politics. Narendra Modi won in his constituency Maninagar by a margin of 86,373 votes against Shweta Bhatt (wife of Sanjiv Bhatt) of the Indian National Congress. Narendra Modi, a development-oriented and clean leader for his supporters and a despicable politician for his opponents, is clearly eyeing a bigger role in national politics. Claiming that BJP's victory in Gujarat is a victory for all Indians, Modi said, "By serving Gujarat, I serve India. The results of the Gujarat elections have proved that the voters in the country know what is right and what is wrong. The voters in Gujarat don't want the situation they faced in the 80s. Modi only smiled when his supporters chanted, "PM, PM," after he mentioned that he would be visiting New Delhi on December 27, a day after his swearing-in ceremony as Gujarat Chief Minister. Modi also asked his supporters to forgive him if he had made any mistake in the past, and said, "If I have made any mistakes, forgive me. Give me your blessings so I make no mistakes in the future." Calling his win a victory of all the Indians, Modi stated, "BJP's Gujarat victory is a victory for all Indians. People have voted keeping their future in mind."
The 2002 post Godhra riots are indelibly stamped on his persona, trapping him in a paradox of notoriety as well as a popularity. In the immediate aftermath he swept to victory winning 127 seats, a hate figure for Muslims, but a poster boy of Hindutva. The famously workaholic chief minister is known for his rough and tough language. He's been making constant references to the Gujarati pride and his politically incorrect rhetoric remains. Yet he constantly sees himself as a victim, someone unfairly painted as communal by the media, misjudged by pundits, and persecuted by NGOs. The courts have sent his cabinet colleagues like Maya Kodnani and Amit Shah to prison, his senior police officers like DG Vanzara are also in jail for encounter killings, he himself faces allegations over the riots. His answer to his image crisis has been well publicised development efforts and working to market his own image. He's been on the TIME magazine cover, the British envoy has come calling even though Britain has made it clear that it disapproves of his role in the riots. He still can't get a visa to the US. Yet in Gujarat his personality cult today is unrivalled. In a sangh parivar known for faceless collective leadership, the RSS pracharak who rose through the ranks to become the chief organiser of LK Advani's rath yatra in 1990, has always been touched with a burning ambition. After three election victories, Modi is the longest serving chief minister of Gujarat, someone who has created the ideology of Moditva, a mix of Gujarati pride, development and Hindutva, an ideology and a persona far bigger brand than the BJP. After his third successive victory in Gujarat, one of the first things Narendra Modi did was to visit his mother. But as he pitches for the ultimate prize of the throne of Delhi, the ambitious young boy from a humble family in Wadnagar in North Gujarat, has certainly come a long way.
Love him or hate him, you can't ignore Narendra Damodardas Modi, a man who has been called a 'Hindu Hriday Samrat', 'Maut Ka Saudagar', 'Great Dictator', 'Polarising Politician', even 'Chhappan Ki Chhaati'. For some he is the 'criminally culpable chief minister' who failed to prevent 2,000 deaths in the 2002 post Godhra riots. For others he is the hero of development, synonymous with Gujarat's economic miracle.
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