Chief Minister of Gujarat

Chief Minister of Gujarat

In October 2001, he was called upon by the party to lead the Government in Gujarat. When the Modi government was sworn in on October 7, 2001, the economy of Gujarat was reeling under the adverse effects of several natural calamities, including a massive earthquake in January 2001. However Modi, a master strategist, who was enriched by national and international exposure and experience, decided to take the bull by its horns. He is believed to be a protégé of Lal Krishna Advani, who is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party himself. Advani has praised Modi on numerous occasions, referring to him as "a leader who, after being subjected to a malicious and prolonged campaign of vilification, has been able to impress even his critics with his determination, single-minded focus, integrity and a wide array of achievements in a relatively short time."

Beginning of Political career

Beginning of Political करियर

He entered mainstream politics in 1987 by joining the BJP. 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. He took up the challenging task of energizing the party cadres in right earnest. 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. During this period, Modi was entrusted with the responsibility of organizing two crucial national events, the Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra (a very long march) of Shri 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. In 1995, he 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. In 1998, he was promoted as the General Secretary (Organization), a post he held until October 2001, when he was chosen to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat, one of the most prosperous and progressive states of India. 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. While working at the national level, Modi emerged as an important spokesman for the party and played a key role on several important occasions.

Early life

Early life

Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a middle class family in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of North Gujarat. 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. In 1967, he served the flood affected people of Gujarat. 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.^[9] He started with RSS,a socio-cultural organization with a focus on social and cultural development of India and imbibed the spirit of selflessness, social responsibility, dedication and nationalism. 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.

Biography

Biography

Education and personal life

He completed his schooling in Vadnagar. He holds the distinction of being a well-educated politician, having earned a masters graduate degree in Political Science from Gujarat University. He is known for being a poet and has published few book of poetry. He is a bachelor. He is the first and thus far, only, bachelor chief minister of Gujarat

Narendra Modi

Narendra Damodardas Modi (Gujarati: નરેંદ્ર દામોદરદાસ મોદી, IPA: [nəɾɛn̪d̪ɾə d̪ämod̪əɾd̪äs mod̪i]; born 17 September 1950^[1]) is the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat since 7 October 2001. He participated in the rise to political dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat as its elections organiser in the early 1990s. This was the period which led to the election of the party in 1995. He became Gujarat's Chief Minister 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. He was re-elected in December 2002 as chief minister with 127 seats in the 182-member assembly. His term has been praised by leading industrialists^[2][3] and religious leaders^[4] for outstanding administration for turning Gujarat into an economic powerhouse and controlling terrorism. In July 2007 he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously.^[5] He was elected again for a third term^[6] on December 23, 2007 with an emphatic win in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule"

Narendra Modi

Hindu

Narendra Modi has been sworn in as the chief minister of the western Indian state of Gujarat for a third consecutive term. Mr Modi was sworn in at a ceremony in Ahmedabad.

His Hindu nationalist BJP won 117 of 182 seats in the state assembly - its fourth consecutive victory. Its main rival, the Congress party, won 59.

Referendum :-
Correspondents say the BJP's victory in Gujarat will boost the party ahead of a general election due in 18 months.

Analysts say Mr Modi, who is credited with pursuing successful economic policies, turned the election into a referendum over himself - defying local party chiefs.

The Gujarat victory is a big boost to the BJP :

At a meeting of party workers on Monday, however, he refused this.

"It is a perverted thought to say I am bigger than the party," he said.

"If you widen your focus, you would see thousands of BJP workers who have lifted me up on their shoulders."

Indian newspapers have variously described Mr Modi's victory as "historic" and "triumphant".

The Times of India said: "He has led the BJP to its fourth consecutive win in Gujarat defying anti-incumbency factors and a rebellion within the party."

The Congress party campaigned hard to defeat him, with major rallies by its top leaders including Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul, the latest member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in Indian politics.

Interests:

Only Politics

Favorite Music:

Simple Music

Favorite Movies:

Gandhi, Sardar

Favorite Books:

All Mahatma Gandhi's books, Hindu religious books.

Favorite TV Shows:

Only news channels

Favorite Quotations:

"To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that the one that must be loved is not a friend." - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

And

"There's no red tape in Gujarat, only red carpets"

About Me:

I was born on 17 September 1950 to a middle class family in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of North Gujarat. Then I completed my schooling in Vadnagar and gained a masters graduate degree in Political Science from Gujarat University. As a young man, I 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, I was later nominated as its representative in the Bharatiya Janata Party.

I started with RSS and as a swaymsevak, had to go underground during the The Emergency (India) declared by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. I joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in early 1987.

I helped maintain the relations between the RSS and the BJP. In 1988 I was recognized as master strategist of the party and was entrusted as the General Secretary of the Gujarat State BJP unit. During 1988-1995, I undertook and successfully carried out two major projects of BJP initiated by Lal Krishna Advani -- (a) Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra and (b) a march from Kanyakumari, the southern end of India to Kashmir, the North of India.

In 1995, I became the National Secretary of the party with the charge of five major states. In 1995, BJP came to power with two third majority in Gujarat Assembly. Since then, Gujarat is under the rule of BJP. In 1998 I was promoted to the post of General Secretary (Organization) of BJP, I held the office till October 2001, then I became the 14th Chief Minister of Gujarat.