Early activism and politics

Early activism and politics

Narendra Modi (left) with Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister, at a BJP rally

During his tenure with the RSS, Modi played several important roles on various occasions including the 1974 anti-corruption agitation and the harrowing 19-month (June 1975 to January 1977) long ‘Emergency (India)’,declared by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, when the fundamental rights of Indian citizens were strangled. Modi kept the spirit of democracy alive by going underground for the entire period and fighting a spirited battle against the fascist ways of the then central government^{[citation needed]}. Modi was a Pracharak in the RSS during his university years.^[16][17]

He entered mainstream politics in 1987 by joining the BJP^{[citation needed]}. Just within a year, he was elevated to the level of General Secretary of the Gujarat unit. By that time he had already acquired a reputation for being a highly efficient organizer^{[citation needed]}. He took up the challenging task of energizing the party cadres in right earnest. In partnership with Shankarsingh Vaghela, Modi set about creating a strong cadre base in Gujarat. In the initial period, Shankarsingh 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. Since then, the BJP has been governing Gujarat.

Between 1988 and 1995, Modi was recognized as a master strategist who had successfully gained the necessary groundwork for making the Gujarat BJP the ruling party of the state^{[citation needed]}.

Narendra Modi with people during Rakhabandhan

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. The ascent of the BJP to power at New Delhi in 1998 has been attributed to these two highly successful events, substantially handled by Modi^{[citation needed]}. After the exit of Shankarsingh Vaghela from the BJP, Keshubhai Patel was made Chief Minister while Narendra Modi was sent to delhi as a General Secretary of the Party. This was allegedly done at the behest of Keshubhai to keep Modi from stirring trouble.

In 1995, Modi was appointed the National Secretary of the party and given the charge of five major states in India – a rare distinction for a young leader^{[citation needed]}. 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 in a backroom coup.

During his stint at the national level, Modi was given the responsibility to oversee the affairs of several state level units, including the sensitive and crucial state of Jammu and Kashmir and the equally sensitive north-eastern states. He was responsible for revamping the party organization in several states^{[citation needed]}. While working at the national level, Modi emerged as an important spokesman for the party and played a key role on several important occasions.