Facts about narendra modi
Narendra Modi sleeps only three hours. He is a workaholic. As CM of
Gujarat, he reports to his office around 7 in the morning and works as
late as 10 or even late in the night.
Narendra Damodardas Modi born 17 September 1950) is an Indian
politician and is the incumbent and 14th Chief Minister of the state of
Gujarat. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was the
prime ministerial candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance
in the 2014 Indian general elections and is set to be the next (15th)
Prime Minister of India.
Modi was a key strategist for the BJP
in the successful 1995 and 1998 Gujarat state election campaigns, and
was a major campaign figure in the 2009 general elections, eventually
won by the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance
(UPA). He first became chief minister of Gujarat in October 2001 after
the resignation of his predecessor, Keshubhai Patel, and following the
defeat of BJP in the by-elections. In July 2007, he became the
longest-serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history, at which point he
had been in power for 2,063 days continuously. He is currently serving
his fourth consecutive term as Chief Minister. Modi is a member of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is described as a Hindu
nationalist by media, scholars and himself. He is a controversial figure
both within India and internationally as his administration has been
criticised for the incidents surrounding the 2002 Gujarat riots. He has
been praised for his economic policies, which are credited with creating
an environment for a high rate of economic growth in Gujarat. However,
his administration has also been criticised for failing to make a
significant positive impact upon the human development of the state.
Early life and education
Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a family of grocers belonging to
the backward Ghanchi-Teli (oil-presser) community, in Vadnagar in
Mehsana district of what was then Bombay Presidency (present-day
Gujarat), India.He was the third of six children born to Damodardas
Mulchand Modi and his wife, Heeraben. He helped his father sell tea at
Vadnagar railway station when a child and as a teenager he ran a tea
stall with his brother near a bus terminus.He completed his schooling in
Vadnagar, where a teacher described him as being an average student,
but a keen debater who had an interest in theatre. That interest has
influenced how he now projects himself in politics.
Modi's
parents arranged his marriage as a child, in keeping with the traditions
of the Ghanchi caste. He was engaged at the age of 13 to Jashodaben
Chimanlal and the couple were married by the time he was 18. They spent
very little time together and were soon estranged because Modi decided
to pursue an itinerant life. However as per Modi's biographer Nilanjan
Mukhopadhyay, the marriage was never consummated. Having remained silent
on the question of marriage in four previous election campaigns, and
having claimed that his status as a single person meant that he had no
reason to be corrupt, Modi acknowledged Jashodaben as his legal spouse
when filling in his nomination form for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Little is known of the two years that Modi spent travelling, probably in
the Himalayas, and he resumed selling tea upon his return. He then
worked in the staff canteen of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation
until he became a full–time pracharak (propagandist) of the RSS in 1970.
He had been involved with the RSS as a volunteer from the age of eight
and had come into contact with Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal
Jaghda, leaders of the Jan Sangh who later founded the BJP's Gujarat
state unit. After Modi had received some RSS training in Nagpur, which
was a prerequisite for taking up an official position in the Sangh
Parivar, he was given charge of Sangh's student wing, Akhil Bharatiya
Vidyarthi Parishad, in Gujarat. Modi organised agitations and covert
distribution of Sangh's pamphlets during the Emergency. Modi graduated
with an extramural degree through
Distance Education
in political science from Delhi University. Modi remained a pracharak
in the RSS while he completed his Master's degree in political science
from Gujarat University.
Modi formally joined the RSS after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In
1975, the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi declared a state
of emergency and jailed political opponents. Modi went underground in
Gujarat, occasionally disguised, and printed and sent booklets against
the central government to Delhi. He also participated in the movement
against the Emergency under Jayaprakash Narayan. The RSS assigned Modi
to the BJP in 1985. While Shankarsingh Vaghela and Keshubhai Patel were
the established names in the Gujarat BJP at that time, Modi rose to
prominence after organising Murli Manohar Joshi's Kanyakumari-Srinagar
Ekta yatra (Journey for Unity) in 1991. In 1988, Modi was elected as
organizing secretary of BJP's Gujarat unit, marking his formal entry
into mainstream politics. As secretary, his electoral strategy was
central to BJP's victory in the 1995 state elections. In November 1995,
Modi was elected National Secretary of BJP and was transferred to New
Delhi where he was assigned responsibility for the party's activities in
Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Vaghela defected from the BJP after he
lost the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, having previously threatened to do so
in 1995. Modi was promoted to the post of General
Secretary(Organisation) of the BJP in May 1998. While on the selection
committee for the 1998 assembly elections in Gujarat, Modi favoured supporters
of Patel over those loyal to Vaghela, in an attempt to put an end to
the factional divisions within the party. His strategies were credited
as being key to winning the 1998 elections.
In 2001, Keshubhai Patel's health was failing, and the BJP had lost
seats in the by-elections. Allegations of abuse of power, corruption
and poor administration were being made, and Patel's standing had been
damaged by his administration's handling of the Bhuj Earthquake of
2001.As a result, the BJP's national leadership sought a new candidate
for the office of chief minister, and Modi, who had aired his misgivings
about Patel's administration, was chosen as a replacement. L. K.
Advani, a senior leader of the BJP, did not want to ostracise Patel and
was worried about Modi's lack of experience in governance. Modi declined
an offer to be Patel's deputy chief minister, informing Advani and Atal
Bihari Vajpayee that he was "going to be fully responsible for Gujarat
or not at all", and on 7 October 2001, Modi was appointed the Chief
Minister of Gujarat, with the responsibility of preparing the BJP for
elections in December 2002. As Chief Minister, Modi's ideas of
governance revolved around privatisation and small government, which
stood at odds with what political commentator Aditi Phadnis has
described as the "anti-privatisation, anti-globalisation position" of
the RSS.
Modi is a vegetarian.He has a frugal lifestyle with a personal staff
of three. He is a workaholic and an introvert. He writes poems in
Gujarati. As a speaker, he is known as a crowd-puller. He wears
"business suits to business meetings, instead of homespun tunics. He
still lampoons the urban, English-speaking elite, but he is also honing
his English skills." Modi has been labelled by the media and some
articles in peer-reviewed journals as a controversial, polarising, and
divisive figure,but British economist Jim O'Neill, author of the BRIC
report, wrote on his blog that Modi is "good on economics", one of the
things that "India desperately needs in a leader". In August 2013,
financial analyst Chris Wood, chief strategist of CLSA, wrote in his
weekly Greed & Fear that "the Indian stock market's greatest hope is
the emergence of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP's
prime ministerial candidate.
Awards and recognitions
- Gujarat Ratna by Shri Poona Gujarati Bandhu Samaj at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on celebration of centenary year.
- e-Ratna award by the Computer Society of India
- Best Chief Minister – In a nationwide survey conducted in 2007 by
India Today magazine, Narendra Modi was declared the Best Chief Minister
in the country.
- Asian Winner of the fDi Personality of the Year Award for 2009 by FDi magazine.
- In March 2012, Modi appeared on the cover of the Asian edition of Time, one of India's few politicians to have done so.
- Modi was featured in Time's 2014 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world
The biggest mystery of Narendra Modi’s life was his relationship status. The world knew him as a ‘bachelor’ till the time he declared himself as married in his election affidavit . A magazine published a story in 2009 that claimed Jashodaben to be Modi’s wife. The fact that Modi never contested the facts of the story gave credence to the content of the article. Modi's wife is a retired school teacher and lives in Rajosana village of Banaskantha district. She is said to got married with Modi when she was 18. She had studied up to class VIII only and that is supposed to have spoiled their relationship. It is said that Jashodaben does not like to be photographed as she believes she is not good looking. Not only this, she is conscious of Modi’s high position and does not want to create any embarrassment to Modi although she is hopeful that someday Modi will come to her and publicly accept her as his wife. In 2014 elections the media covered when she went out and cast her vote.
Narendra Modi is a patriot since childhood. During Indo-Pak war of 1965, Modi, as a 15 year old boy, volunteered to serve the soldiers in transit at the railway stations. Similarly, in 1967 at an age of 17 years, he served the flood affected people of Gujarat.
Modi was born in an OBC family of grocers in Vadnagar of Gujarat. Modi wanted to become a sanyasi when he was a child. In fact, he was always fascinated with Sadhus, different forms of worship and meditation. He ran away from home after completing his school education. He visited many places including Ramkrishna Ashram of Belur in West Bengal. Finally, he reached Himalayas and wandered aimlessly and stayed with unknown but yogic Sadhus for months.
After returning from Himalayas, Modi ran a tea stall with his brother at the State Transport Office in Ahmedabad. Modi sold tea for many years. That was the time when Modi learnt what hardship really meant. It made him more determined and resolute in his approach towards life.
Narendra Modi is very particular about his appearance in public. He prefers trimmed beard and hair. As for his clothes, his favourite cloth store used to be Jade Blue of Ahmedabad. He ensures that he looks elegant whenever he moves out.
Narendra Modi has done a three-month course in US on public relations and image management. This could be one reason why he has succeeded in positioning himself as one of the most affable and sought after politicians in India.
Narendra Modi adores his mother and never forgets to take her blessings whenever he undertakes any new initiative- political or otherwise. Even today he went to meet his mother after it became clear that Modi is going to be the next Prime Minister. In fact, she is his only closest relation. He has got all traditional virtues of an Indian man. He is a teetotaler. He doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke. He is a complete vegetarian. In nut-shell, he is miles away from even minor vices
Women all over India and cutting over age bracket adore Modi. In his home state, he is seen as a sex symbol among women. A close look at his public meetings makes it abundantly clear that women outnumber men among attendees. Analysts say this is mainly because of his emperor like image exuding absolute power and authority.
Modi is a prolific writer and poet.He writes in Gujarati language and his favourite topics include life and teachings of Hindutva icons. Narendra Modi is a big fan of Swami Vivekananda. His most recent election campaign was christened as ‘Vivekanand Yuva Vikas Yatra’.
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