Narendra Modi is the man of the moment. After the historic win in the elections he has become undoubtedly the most trusted leader India has seen after Indira Gandhi. We will now try to understand the life of Narendra Modi and how did he become a super power in Indian politics. He was born on 17^th September in 1950. His full name is Narendra Damodardas Modi. He was born in the family of grocers. Born in a backward community of Mahsana district was a very humble beginning for this legendary leader. His parent’s name was Damodardas Mulchand Modi and Heeraben Modi. He was their sixth child.

The Chaiwala: Childhood

In his early childhood he would help his brother run a small tea stall. His teachers say he was an average student but was extremely good in debates and also showed interest in theatre. Narendra Modi was engaged at the tender age of thirteen and was later married to Jashodaben Chimanlal when he reached the age of eighteen. They did spend very few years together and the marriage was never consummated. Being a single person gave him a huge edge in his political life. There is a belief that a person who is single will have very few reasons to be corrupt. Narendra Modi always claimed that he in single only in the 2014 lok Sabah election he confirmed that he was married.

The Himalayan Flight

When he was about nineteen he decided to take a break and left for the Himalayas. He spent a lot of time travelling and this made him spiritually very rich. Almost two to three years of his life he spent like this and then returned back to his house. He joined the tea stall. After a while he got a job in the canteen of Gujarat state Transport Corporation. In the year 1970 he became a full time propagandist of RSS. He was always a volunteer for RSS before this happened. Narendra Modi spent some years in Nagpur where he was trained and later he joined the Sangh Parivar. He was later made the in charge of the student wing in the Sangh. During these years he also completed a distance course in political science from Delhi University.

Early Days with RSS

In 1971 during the Indo-Pakistan war Narendra Modi joined the RSS. In 1975 Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency and at that time Narendra Modi had to go underground. He disguised himself and also sent some booklets against the central government. In 1985 Narendra Modi joined BJP. He actively participated in all the activities of BJP from the beginning. In 1988 Narendra Modi was appointed at the organising secretary of BJP’s Gujarat unit. In 1991 he arranged for Kanyakumari- Srinagar Ekta yatra. The BJP accepted that Narendra Modi could make great strategies after the win in 1995 state elections. This is when he made a formal entry into the main stream politics. In November 1995 Narendra Modi was elected as the national secretary of BJP. This was the time when he moved to New Delhi and started to handle the responsibility of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Despite All Obstacles

The journey of Narendra Modi in BJP has not been an easy one. He was always opposed by the top leadership who thought that he was not experienced. However, he worked very had and did prove himself to the leadership. In 2001 BJP was facing a serious crisis of a strong leader. They were accused of corruption and bad governance. It was this time when Narendra Modi was selected to be the CM for Gujarat. Narendra Modi made some remarkable changes in Gujarat. The strategies and economic policies made by him worked very well for Gujarat. Even the people of Gujarat slowly started to appreciate that Narendra Modi was a leader they could trust.

The 2002 Stigma

All was going well and Narendra Modi was slowly becoming a strong power in Gujarat as well as in the national politics. All this changed in 2002. The month was February and the day was 27^th. A train carrying Hindu passengers was burnt and many died. Rumours spread that this was done by the Muslims. Soon riots broke out between the two communities. Narendra Modi called in the army. He also called for a curfew and shoot at sight orders were given. He tried all his means to bring the situation under control. However, he was accused of bad governance and also for encouraging violence that led to the death of many. The controversies only kept increasing. The congress government knew that Narendra Modi was a person who could be a threat to them as a result they ensured that the controversies continue.

The SIT Report 2010

In 2009 a special investigation team was given the duty to probe into what happened in Gujarat. After a deep investigation the team in 2010 finally submitted a report that Narendra Modi could not be blamed for the violence in Godhra. He did whatever was possible to bring the situation under control. This verdict initially did attract a lot of criticism. After a lot of debate and analysis it was finally decided that Narendra Modi should be given a clean chit in this matter. In 2002 Narendra Modi was asked to resign but the party did not accept his recognition. He won the subsequent election and was appointed as the CM of Gujarat again. Between 2002 and 2007 Narendra Modi in spite of all the criticism that were hurled against him ensured that Gujarat has a tremendous economic growth. He ensured that more and more investment happens there and the state progresses on the way to success. This ensured that he was becoming a more powerful and popular leader among the people of Gujarat.

The Success Story of Gujarat

The success story of Gujarat slowly started to spread to the other parts of the country. In 2007 there was a real estate investment in Gujarat of about 6.6 trillion INR.  The success story of Gujarat was unparallel compared to any other state. However, the Muslims started to withdraw from BJP as the stories of Gujarat riots spread. In 2004 when BJP lost the lok Sabah elections then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that it was a mistake that they did not remove Narendra Modi soon after the Godhra incident as a result they lost the elections. Narendra Modi faced huge opposition from the party as well as from the media. He had a huge challenge in front of him. Anybody else would have given up but Narendra Modi fought and he fought bravely against all odds. The USA refused to give Narendra Modi a visa considering the violence in Gujarat.

In 2007 Narendra Modi was again elected as the CM of Gujarat. He is the longest serving CM for the state in history. Between 2007 and 2012 Narendra Modi ensured that the success story of Gujarat reaches a new level all together. The best part about Narendra Modi’s leadership was the fact that a long of youngsters supported him. He constructed a lot of dams in Gujarat. He developed the infrastructure of the state considerably. The state of Gujarat showed highest agricultural growth in the country of 11% during this time. The development in Gujarat was phenomenal as a result the popularity of Narendra Modi was only on the rise. There are a lot of people who oppose the ideologies of Narendra Modi. There are many economists and business tycoons show complete faith in the economic policies of Narendra Modi. In 2012 he was again elected at the CM of Gujarat.

Towards PM

In the 2014 lok Sabah election the BJP decided to choose Narendra Modi as their prime ministerial candidate. By now he had become a huge power in Indian politics and appointing him as the prime ministerial candidate gave a new dimension to the BJP. The people of India wanted a change; they had started to lose faith in the dynasty politics of Congress. Narendra Modi has tremendous leadership qualities and a strong personality that has always been in his favour. Narendra Modi is a great speaker and can communicate well with the masses. Narendra Modi did develop some strong ties with countries like Japan, China and Singapore. This resulted in a lot of foreign investments into the state. Looking at this his diplomacy skills were also tested and appreciate by the people of India. Narendra Modi was slowly and gradually becoming the leader that India was looking for a long time.

Young India and a lot of first time voters turned around to vote for Narendra Modi as they wanted to see him as the prime minister of India. Today is the date when Narendra Modi led the BJP to a phenomenal victory over congress. They have got majority of the seats and are all set to form the new government. They have created history. Let’s see what Narendra Modi can do as the next Prime minister of India and if he will be able to make India a more progressive and developed nation. India has finally got the leader she was looking for.