"Modi" redirects here. For other uses, see Modi (disambiguation).

Narendra Modi

Official portrait, 2023

14th Prime Minister of India

Incumbent

Assumed office
26 May 2014

President Pranab Mukherjee

Ram Nath Kovind
Droupadi Murmu

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari

Venkaiah Naidu
Jagdeep Dhankhar

Preceded by Manmohan Singh

show
Additional ministries

Leader of the House, Lok Sabha

Incumbent

Assumed office
 26 May 2014

Deputy Gopinath Munde

Sushma Swaraj
Rajnath Singh

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan

Om Birla

Preceded by Sushilkumar Shinde

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

Incumbent

Assumed office
5 June 2014

Preceded by Murli Manohar Joshi

Constituency Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Majority 1,52,513 (54.24%)

14th Chief Minister of Gujarat

In office
7 October 2001 – 22 May 2014

 Sunder Singh Bhandari

Governor
 Kailashpati Mishra
 Balram Jakhar
 Nawal Kishore Sharma
 S. C. Jamir
 Kamla Beniwal

Preceded by Keshubhai Patel

Succeeded by Anandiben Patel

Member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly

In office
15 December 2002 – 16 May 2014
Preceded by Kamlesh Patel

Succeeded by Suresh Patel

Constituency Maninagar

In office
24 February 2002 – 19 July 2002

Preceded by Vajubhai Vala

Succeeded by Vajubhai Vala

Constituency Rajkot II
General Secretary (Organisation) of the Bharatiya
Janata Party

In office
5 January 1998[1] – 7 October 2001

Preceded by Kushabhau Thakre

Succeeded by Sanjay Joshi

Personal details

Born Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi

17 September 1950 (age 73)

Vadnagar, Bombay State, India
(present-day Gujarat)

Political party Bharatiya Janata Party

Jashodaben Modi
Spouse

(m. 1968; sep. 1971)

[2]

Residence(s) 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi,

Delhi, India

Alma mater  Delhi University (BA)

 Gujarat University (MA)

Awards List of state honours

Signature

Website  Personal
 PM India official
Narendra Modi's voice
 Duration: 28 minutes and 59 seconds.28:59
Narendra Modi on the COVID-19 pandemic
Recorded 19 March 2020

This article is part of

a series about
Narendra Modi

Prime Minister of India

Incumbent

 Electoral history
 Public image
 Awards and honours
 Bibliography

 Chief Minister of Gujarat

 2002
 2007
 2012
 Gujarat Council of Ministers
 First
 Second
 Third
 Fourth

Premiership
(Timeline)

 2014
 Prime ministerial candidacy
 Campaign
 Achhe Din Aane Waale Hain
 2019
 Campaign
 Main Bhi Chowkidar
 2024
 Campaign
 Abki Baar 400 Paar
 Oath of office
 2014
  2019
 2024
 Union Council of Ministers
 First
 Second
 Reshuffle
 Third
 Lok Sabha
 Sixteenth
 Seventeenth
 Eighteenth
 Mann Ki Baat
 International trips
 Approval ratings

Budgets

 Union budgets
 2014
 2015
 2016
 2017
 2018
 2019 (Interim)
 2019
 2020
 2021
 2022
 2023
 2024 (Interim)
 Railway budgets
 2014
 2015
 2016

show
National policy

show
Foreign policy
 Controversies

 2002 Gujarat riots

 2016 Indian banknote demonetisation
 Rafale deal controversy
 Pegasus Project revelations
 Repeal of Article 370
 Citizenship Amendment Act protests
 COVID-19 lockdown in India
 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest
 2021 Bangladesh anti-Modi protests
 2023 Indian wrestlers' protest
 2024 Indian farmers' protest
 2024 NEET controversy

Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video

 v
 t
 e
Narendra Damodardas Modi (Gujarati: [ˈnəɾendɾə dɑmodəɾˈdɑs ˈmodiː] ⓘ; born 17
September 1950)[a] is an Indian politician who has served as the 14th Prime Minister of
India since 26 May 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is
the Member of Parliament (MP) for Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right wing Hindu
nationalist paramilitary volunteer organisation. He is the longest-serving prime minister
outside the Indian National Congress.[3]
Modi was born and raised in Vadnagar in northeastern Gujarat, where he completed his
secondary education. He was introduced to the RSS at the age of eight. At the age of 18,
he was married to Jashodaben Modi, whom he abandoned soon after, only publicly
acknowledging her four decades later when legally required to do so. Modi became a full-
time worker for the RSS in Gujarat in 1971. The RSS assigned him to the BJP in 1985 and
he rose through the party hierarchy, becoming general secretary in 1998.[b] In 2001, Modi
was appointed Chief Minister of Gujarat and elected to the legislative assembly soon after.
His administration is considered complicit in the 2002 Gujarat riots,[c] and has been
criticised for its management of the crisis. According to official records, a little over 1,000
people were killed, three-quarters of whom were Muslim; independent sources estimated
2,000 deaths, mostly Muslim.[12] A Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme
Court of India in 2012 found no evidence to initiate prosecution proceedings against him.
[d]
While his policies as chief minister were credited for encouraging economic growth, his
administration was criticised for failing to significantly improve health, poverty and
education indices in the state.[e]

In the 2014 Indian general election, Modi led the BJP to a parliamentary majority, the first
for a party since 1984. His administration increased direct foreign investment, and it
reduced spending on healthcare, education, and social-welfare programmes. Modi began
a high-profile sanitation campaign, controversially initiated a demonetisation of
banknotes and introduced the Goods and Services Tax, and weakened or abolished
environmental and labour laws. Modi's administration launched the 2019 Balakot
airstrike against an alleged terrorist training camp in Pakistan. The airstrike failed,[15][16] but
the action had nationalist appeal.[17] Modi's party won the 2019 general election which
followed.[18] In its second term, his administration revoked the special status of Jammu and
Kashmir,[19][20] and introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act, prompting widespread
protests, and spurring the 2020 Delhi riots in which Muslims were brutalised and killed by
Hindu mobs.[21][22][23] Three controversial farm laws led to sit-ins by farmers across the
country, eventually causing their formal repeal. Modi oversaw India's response to
the COVID-19 pandemic, during which, according to the World Health Organization's
estimates, 4.7 million Indians died.[24][25] In the 2024 general election, Modi's party lost its
majority in the lower house of Parliament and formed a government leading the National
Democratic Alliance coalition.[26][27]

Under Modi's tenure, India has experienced democratic backsliding, or the weakening of
democratic institutions, individual rights, and freedom of expression.[28][29][f] As prime
minister, he has received consistently high approval ratings.[35][36][37] Modi has been
described as engineering a political realignment towards right-wing politics. He remains a
controversial figure domestically and internationally, over his Hindu nationalist beliefs and
handling of the Gujarat riots, which have been cited as evidence of a majoritarian and
exclusionary social agenda.[g]

Early life and education

Narendra Damodardas Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a Gujarati Hindu family of
oil presser (Modh-Ghanchi) which is an Other Backward Class (OBC) category[44]
[45]
in Vadnagar, Mehsana district, Bombay State (present-day Gujarat). He was the third of
six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi (c. 1915–1989) and Hiraben Modi (1923–
2022).[46][a][47]

Modi had infrequently worked as a child in his father's tea business on the Vadnagar
railway station platform, according to Modi and his neighbours.[48][49][50]

Modi completed his higher secondary education in Vadnagar in 1967; his teachers
described him as an average student and a keen, gifted debater with an interest in theatre.
[51]
He preferred playing larger-than-life characters in theatrical productions, which has
influenced his political image.[52][53]

When Modi was eight years old, he was introduced to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) and began attending its local shakhas (training sessions). There, he
met Lakshmanrao Inamdar, who inducted Modi as a balswayamsevak (junior cadet) in the
RSS and became his political mentor.[54] While Modi was training with the RSS, he also met
Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal Jaghda, Bharatiya Jana Sangh leaders who in 1980
helped found the BJP's Gujarat unit.[55] As a teenager, he was enrolled in the National
Cadet Corps.[56]
In a custom traditional to Narendra Modi's caste, his family arranged a betrothal
to Jashodaben Chimanlal Modi, leading to their marriage when she was 17 and he was 18.
[57][58]
Soon afterwards, he abandoned his wife,[59] and left home. The couple never divorced
but the marriage was not in his public pronouncements for many decades.[58] In April 2014,
shortly before the national election in which he gained power, Modi publicly affirmed he
was married and that his spouse was Jashodaben.[60] The marriage
was unconsummated and Modi kept it secret because he would not have been able to
become a pracharak in the puritanical RSS.[61][62]

Modi spent the following two years travelling across northern and north-eastern India.[63] In
interviews, he has described visiting Hindu ashrams founded by Swami Vivekananda:
the Belur Math near Kolkata, the Advaita Ashrama in Almora and the Ramakrishna
Mission in Rajkot. His stays at each ashram were brief because he lacked the required
college education.[64] Vivekananda has had a large influence in Modi's life.[65]

In mid 1968, Modi reached Belur Math but was turned away, after which he
visited Calcutta, West Bengal and Assam, stopping in Siliguri and Guwahati. He then went
to the Ramakrishna Ashram in Almora, where he was again rejected, before returning
to Gujarat via Delhi and Rajasthan in 1968 to 1969. In either late 1969 or early 1970, he
returned to Vadnagar for a brief visit before leaving again for Ahmedabad,[66][67] where he
lived with his uncle and worked in his uncle's canteen at Gujarat State Road Transport
Corporation.[68]

In Ahmedabad, Modi renewed his acquaintance with Inamdar, who was based at the
Hedgewar Bhavan (RSS headquarters) in the city.[69][70][71] Modi's first-known political activity
as an adult was in 1971 when he joined a Jana Sangh Satyagraha in Delhi led by Atal
Bihari Vajpayee to enlist to fight in the Bangladesh Liberation War.[72][73] The Indira Gandhi-
led central government prohibited open support for the Mukti Bahini; according to Modi, he
was briefly held in Tihar Jail.[74][75][76] After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Modi left his
uncle's employment and became a full-time pracharak (campaigner) for the RSS,
[77]
working under Inamdar.[78] Shortly before the war, Modi took part in a non-violent protest
in New Delhi against the Indian government, for which he was arrested; because of this
arrest, Inamdar decided to mentor Modi.[78] According to Modi, he was part of a Satyagraha
that led to a political war.[75][h]

In 1978, Modi received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in political science from the School
of Open Learning[81] at the Delhi University.[61][82] In 1983, he received a Master of Arts (MA)
degree in political science from Gujarat University, graduating with a first class[83][84] as an
external distance learning student.[85] There is a controversy surrounding the authenticity of
his BA and MA degrees.[86][87][i]

Early political career

In June 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India that
lasted until 1977. During this period, known as "the Emergency", many of her political
opponents were jailed and opposition groups were banned.[91][92] Modi was appointed
general secretary of the "Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti", an RSS committee co-ordinating
opposition to the Emergency in Gujarat. Shortly afterwards, the RSS was banned. [93] Modi
was forced to go underground in Gujarat and frequently travelled in disguise to avoid
arrest, once dressing as a monk and once as a Sikh.[94] He became involved in the printing
of pamphlets opposing the government, sending them to Delhi and organising
demonstrations.[95][96] He was also involved with creating a network of safe houses for
individuals who were wanted by the government, and in raising funds for political refugees
and activists.[97] During this period, Modi wrote a Gujarati-language book titled Sangharsh
Ma Gujarat (In the Struggles of Gujarat), which describes events during the Emergency.[98]
[99]
While in this role, Modi met trade unionist and socialist activist George Fernandes and
several other national political figures.[100]

Modi became an RSS sambhag pracharak (regional organiser) in 1978, overseeing

activities in Surat and Vadodara, and in 1979, he went to work for the RSS in Delhi, where
he researched and wrote the RSS's history of the Emergency. Shortly after, he returned to
Gujarat and in 1985, the RSS assigned him to the BJP. In 1987, Modi helped organise the
BJP's campaign in the Ahmedabad municipal election, which the party won comfortably;
according to biographers, Modi's planning was responsible for the win.[101][102] After L. K.
Advani became president of the BJP in 1986, the RSS decided to place its members in
important positions within the party; Modi's work during the Ahmedabad election led to his
selection for this role. Modi was elected organising secretary of the BJP's Gujarat unit later
in 1987.[103]

Modi with Atal Bihari Vajpayee in c. 2001

Modi rose within the party and was named a member of its National Election Committee in
1990, helping organise Advani's Ram Rath Yatra in 1990 and Murli Manohar Joshi's 1991–
1992 Ekta Yatra (Journey for Unity).[51][104][105] Modi took a brief break from politics in 1992 to
establish a school in Ahmedabad, and due to friction with Shankersinh Vaghela, a BJP MP
from Gujarat.[105] Modi returned to electoral politics in 1994, partly at the insistence of
Advani; as party secretary, Modi's electoral strategy was considered central to the BJP
victory in the 1995 state assembly election.[106][107] In November of that year, Modi was
appointed BJP national secretary and transferred to New Delhi, where he assumed
responsibility for party activities in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.[108] The following year,
Shankersinh Vaghela, a prominent BJP leader from Gujarat, defected to the Indian
National Congress (Congress) after losing his parliamentary seat in the Lok Sabha
election.[51] Modi, who was on the selection committee for the 1998 Gujarat Legislative
Assembly election, favoured supporters of BJP leader Keshubhai Patel over those
supporting Vaghela to end factional division in the party. His strategy was credited as
central to the BJP winning an overall majority in the 1998 election,[109] and Modi was
promoted to BJP general secretary (organisation) in May of that year.[110]

Chief Minister of Gujarat (2001–2014)

Taking office
In 2001, Keshubhai Patel's health was failing and the BJP lost a few state assembly seats
in by-elections. Allegations of abuse of power, corruption and poor administration were
made, and Patel's standing had been damaged by his administration's handling of
the earthquake in Bhuj in 2001.[109][111][112] The BJP national leadership sought a new
candidate for the chief ministership, and Modi, who had expressed misgivings about
Patel's administration, was chosen as a replacement.[51] Advani did not want to ostracise
Patel and was concerned about Modi's lack of experience in government. Modi declined
an offer to become Patel's deputy chief minister, telling Advani and Atal Bihari
Vajpayee he was "going to be fully responsible for Gujarat or not at all". On 3 October
2001, Modi replaced Patel as Chief Minister of Gujarat with the responsibility of preparing
the BJP for the upcoming December 2002 election.[113] On 7 October, Modi was sworn
in[114] and he entered the Gujarat state legislature on 24 February 2002 after winning a by-
election in Rajkot II constituency, defeating Ashwin Mehta of the INC.[115]

2002 Gujarat riots

Main article: 2002 Gujarat riots
On 27 February 2002, a train with several hundred passengers burned near Godhra, killing
approximately 60 people.[j][118] The train carried a large number of Hindu pilgrims who were
returning from Ayodhya after a religious ceremony at the site of the demolished Babri
Masjid.[119][120] In a public statement, Modi said local Muslims were responsible for the
incident.[9][119][121] The next day, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad called for a bandh (general strike)
across the state.[122][123] Riots began during the bandh and anti-Muslim violence spread
through Gujarat.[119][122][123] The government's decision to move the bodies of the train victims
from Godhra to Ahmedabad further inflamed the violence.[119][124] The state government later
stated 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed during the riots;[120] independent sources
put the death toll at over 2,000,[119][118][125] the vast majority of them Muslims.[118] Approximately
150,000 people were driven to refugee camps.[126] Numerous women and children were
among the victims; the violence included mass rapes and mutilation of women.[8][127]

Scholars consider the Government of Gujarat to have been complicit in the riots,[9][128] and it
has received much criticism for its handling of the situation;[129] some scholars explicitly
blame Modi.[8][130][131] The Modi government imposed a curfew in 26 major cities, issued
shoot-at-sight orders and called for the army to patrol the streets; these measures failed to
prevent the violence from escalating.[122][123] The president of the state unit of the BJP
expressed support for the bandh despite such actions being illegal at the time.[9] State
officials later prevented riot victims from leaving the refugee camps, which were often
unable to meet the needs of those living there.[132] Muslim victims of the riots were
subjected to further discrimination when the state government announced their
compensation would be half that offered to Hindu victims; this decision was later reversed
after the issue was taken to court.[133] During the riots, police officers often did not intervene
in situations where they were able.[8][121][134] Several scholars have described the violence as
a pogrom and others have called it an example of state terrorism.[135][136][137] According
to Martha Nussbaum, "There is by now a broad consensus that the Gujarat violence was a
form of ethnic cleansing, that in many ways it was premeditated, and that it was carried out
with the complicity of the state government and officers of the law".[8]

Modi's personal involvement in the 2002 events has continued to be debated. During the
riots, he said, "What is happening is a chain of action and reaction".[8] Later in 2002, Modi
said the way in which he had handled the media was his only regret regarding the episode.
[138]
In March 2008, the Supreme Court of India reopened several cases related to the riots,
including that of the Gulbarg Society massacre, and established a Special Investigation
Team (SIT) to look into the issue.[129][139][140] In response to a petition from Zakia Jafri, the
widow of Ehsan Jafri, who was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre, in April 2009, the
court also asked the SIT to investigate Modi's complicity in the killings.[139] The SIT
questioned Modi in March 2010; in May, it presented to the court a report finding no
evidence against him.[139][141] In July 2011, the court-appointed amicus curiae Raju
Ramachandran submitted his final report to the court. Contrary to the SIT's position,
Ramachandran said Modi could be prosecuted based on the available evidence.[142][143] The
Supreme Court sent the matter to the magistrate's court. The SIT examined
Ramachandran's report, and in March 2012 submitted its final report, asking for the case
to be closed. Zakia Jafri filed a protest petition in response. In December 2013, the
magistrate's court rejected the protest petition, accepting the SIT's finding there was no
evidence against Modi.[144] In 2022, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition by Zakia Jafri
in which she challenged the clean chit given to Modi in the riots by the SIT, and upheld
previous rulings that no evidence against him was found.[145][146][147]

Later terms as Chief Minister

Main article: 2002 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election
Following the violence, calls for Modi to resign as chief minister were made from politicians
within and outside the state, including leaders of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and
the Telugu Desam Party—partners in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coalition—
and opposition parties stalled Parliament over the issue.[148] Modi submitted his resignation
at the April 2002 BJP national executive meeting in Goa but it was not accepted.
[149]
Despite opposition from the election commissioner, who said a number of voters were
still displaced, Modi succeeded in advancing the election to December 2002.[150] In the
election, the BJP won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly.[151] Modi made significant
use of anti-Muslim rhetoric during his campaign,[152][153][154][155] and the BJP profited from
religious polarisation among voters.[150] Modi framed the criticism of his government for
human rights violations as an attack upon Gujarati pride,[7][152] a strategy that led to the BJP
winning 127 of the 182[151] seats—a two-thirds majority—in the state assembly.[7][152] He won
Maninagar constituency, defeating Congress candidate Yatin Oza.[156] On 22 December
2002, Modi was sworn in for a second term.[157]

During Modi's second term, the government's rhetoric shifted from Hindutva to Gujarat's
economic development.[111][7][152] He curtailed the influence of Sangh Parivar organisations
such as Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).[158] When the
BKS staged a farmers' demonstration, Modi ordered the BKS's eviction from state-
provided houses, and his decision to demolish 200 illegal temples
in Gandhinagar deepened the rift with the VHP.[158][159] Modi retained connections with some
Hindu nationalists. He wrote a foreword to a 2014 textbook by Dinanath Batra, which made
the unscientific claim that ancient India possessed technologies including test-tube babies.
[160][161]

Modi's relationship with Muslims continued to attract criticism. Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee distanced himself, reaching out to North Indian Muslims before the 2004 Indian
general election, following which, Vajpayee called the violence in Gujarat a reason for the
BJP's electoral defeat and said it had been a mistake to leave Modi in office after the riots.
[162][163]
Western nations also raised questions about Modi's relationship with Muslims: the
US State Department barred him from entering the United States in accordance with the
recommendations of that country's Commission on International Religious Freedom,[164]
[165]
the only person to be denied a US visa under this law.[164] The UK and the European
Union (EU) refused to admit Modi because of what they saw as his role in the riots. As
Modi rose to prominence in India, the UK[166] and the EU[167] lifted their bans in October 2012
and March 2013, respectively, and after his election as prime minister in 2014, the US
lifted its ban and invited him to Washington, D.C.[168][169]
 Modi meeting with then-Prime Minister of India Manmohan
Singh in 2004
During the run-up to the 2007 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election and the 2009 Indian
general election, the BJP intensified its rhetoric on terrorism.[170] Modi criticised Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh "for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislation" such as the
2002 Prevention of Terrorism Act.[171] In 2007, Modi wrote Karmayog, a 101-page booklet
discussing manual scavenging. In it, he said scavenging is a "spiritual experience" for
Valmiks, a sub-caste of Dalits.[172][173] The book was not circulated at that time because of
the election code of conduct.[174] After the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Gujarat
government authorised the deployment of 30 high-speed boats for coastal surveillance.
[175]
In July 2007, Modi completed 2,063 consecutive days as chief minister of Gujarat,
making him the longest-serving holder of that post.[176] The BJP won 122 of 182 state-
assembly seats in that year's election.[177]

Despite the BJP's shift away from explicit Hindutva, Modi's campaigns
in 2007 and 2012 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections contained elements of Hindu
nationalism. He attended only Hindu religious ceremonies and had prominent associations
with Hindu religious leaders. During his 2012 campaign, Modi twice refused to wear
articles of clothing gifted by Muslim leaders.[152] He did, however, maintain relations
with Dawoodi Bohra.[152] Modi's 2012 campaign included references to issues known to
cause religious polarisation, including Afzal Guru and the death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.
The BJP did not nominate any Muslim candidates for the 2012 assembly election.
[152]
During the 2012 campaign, Modi attempted to identify himself with the state of Gujarat,
a strategy similar to that used by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, and projected
himself as protecting Gujarat against persecution by the rest of India.[152] While
campaigning for the 2012 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election, Modi made extensive use
of holograms and other technologies, allowing him to reach a large number of people,
[150]
something he repeated in the 2014 general election. Modi won the constituency of
Maninagar, defeating Shweta Bhatt of the INC.[178] The BJP won 115 of the 182 seats,
continuing its majority during his tenure.[179] After his election as Prime Minister of India,
Modi resigned as the Gujarat chief minister and as MLA for Maninagar. Anandiben
Patel succeeded Modi as chief minister.[180]

Development projects

The Sardar Sarovar Dam during a 2006 height increase

As chief minister, Modi favoured privatisation and small government, which was at odds
with the philosophy of the RSS, which is usually described as anti-privatisation and anti-
globalisation. Modi's policies during his second term have been credited with reducing
corruption in Gujarat. He established financial and technology parks in the state and during
the 2007 Vibrant Gujarat summit, real-estate investment deals worth ₹6.6
trillion (equivalent to ₹20 trillion or US$240 billion in 2023) were signed.[111]

The governments led by Patel and Modi supported NGOs and communities in the creation
of groundwater-conservation projects. By December 2008, 500,000 structures had been
built, of which 113,738 were check dams, which helped recharge the aquifers beneath
them.[181] Sixty of the 112 tehsils which had depleted the water table in 2004 had regained
their normal groundwater levels by 2010.[182] As a result, the state's production
of genetically modified cotton increased to become the largest in India.[181] The boom in
cotton production and its semi-arid land use[183] led to Gujarat's agricultural sector growing
at an average rate of 9.6 per cent from 2001 to 2007.[184] Public irrigation measures in
central and southern Gujarat, such as the Sardar Sarovar Dam, were less successful. The
Sardar Sarovar project irrigated only 4–6% of the area intended.[181] In 2008, Modi offered
land in Gujarat to Tata Motors to set up a plant manufacturing the Nano car after popular
agitation had forced the company to move out of West Bengal. Following Tata, several
other companies relocated to Gujarat.[185]

The Modi government finished the process of taking electricity to every village in Gujarat
its predecessor had almost completed.[186] Modi significantly changed the state's system of
power distribution, greatly impacting farmers. Gujarat expanded the Jyotigram
Yojana scheme, in which agricultural electricity was separated from other rural electricity;
the agricultural electricity was rationed to fit scheduled irrigation demands, reducing its
cost. Early protests by farmers ended when those who benefitted found their electricity
supply had stabilised[181] but, according to an assessment study, corporations and large
farmers benefited from the policy at the expense of small farmers and labourers.[187]

Development debate

Modi addressing graduates of the Gujarat National Law University in

2012
A contentious debate surrounds the assessment of Gujarat's economic development
during Modi's tenure as chief minister.[188] The state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
growth rate averaged 10% during his tenure, a rate similar to those of other highly
industrialised states, and above that of India as a whole.[185] Gujarat also had a high rate of
economic growth in the 1990s, before Modi took office; some scholars have stated growth
did not much accelerate during his tenure.[189] Under Modi, Gujarat topped the World Bank's
"ease of doing business" rankings among Indian states for two consecutive years.[190] In
2013, a report measuring governance, growth, citizens' rights, and labour and business
regulation among the country's 20 largest states, ranked Gujarat first among Indian states
for "economic freedom".[185][191] In the later years of Modi's government, Gujarat's economic
growth was frequently used as an argument to counter allegations of communalism.[7] Tax
breaks and land for businesses were easier to obtain in Gujarat than in other states.
Modi's policies of making Gujarat attractive for investment included the creation of Special
Economic Zones in which labour laws were greatly weakened.[152]

Despite its growth rate, Gujarat had a relatively poor record on human development,
poverty relief, nutrition and education during Modi's tenure. In 2013, Gujarat ranked 13th in
India with respect to rates of poverty, and 21st in education. Nearly 45 per cent of children
under five were underweight and 23 per cent were undernourished, putting the state in the
"alarming" category on the India State Hunger Index.[192][193] A study by UNICEF and the
Indian government found Gujarat under Modi had a poor record in immunisation of
children.[194]

From 2001 to 2011, Gujarat did not change its position relative to the rest of the country
with respect to poverty and female literacy, remaining near the median of the 29 Indian
states.[133] It showed a marginal improvement in rates of infant mortality and its position with
respect to individual consumption declined.[133] The quality of education in government
schools in Gujarat ranked below that of many Indian states.[133] The state government's
social policies generally did not benefit Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis, and generally
increased social inequalities.[133] Development in Gujarat was generally limited to the urban
middle class, and citizens in rural areas and those from lower castes were increasingly
marginalised. In 2013, the state ranked 10th of 21 Indian states in the Human
Development Index.[11] Under Modi, the state government spent less than the national
average on education and healthcare.[133]

Allegations of bribery
During its raids in 2013 and 2014, the CBI seized some diaries from two big Indian
companies, Sahara Group and Aditya Birla Group. These diaries contained references of
alleged payments made to leaders belonging to as many as 18 political parties including
BJP, Congress, JDU, BJD etc.[195][196] Among these were some entries mentioning "Gujarat
CM" and "Ahmadabad Modiji".[197][198][196] Citing these entries, on 21 December 2016, the
opposition leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that Modi received cash bribes worth ₹65
crore (US$7.8 million) from Sahara Group and Aditya Birla Group when he was the Chief
Minister of Gujarat.[199][200] In November 2016, advocate Prashant Bhushan had filed a plea
in the Supreme Court of India asking for investigation of the alleged bribe payments made
to some senior public servants including Modi.[201][202] A Supreme Court bench headed by
Justice Arun Kumar Mishra dismissed the plea in January 2017 stating that the evidence
provided was insufficient.[203][204] Later on, Justice Mishra was criticised by a section of
advocates and activists for siding with the Modi government in multiple judgements during
his tenure at the Supreme Court.[205][206] The Wire questioned the manner in which the
Supreme Court buried the Sahara-Birla diaries' investigation.[207]

Premiership campaigns
2014 Indian general election
Main article: Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2014 Indian general election
 Narendra Modi hands over his resignation as Maninagar MLA to
the Speaker of the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha.
External videos

BJP announces Shri Narendra Modi as its Prime

Ministerial candidate for Loksabha Elections. Bharatiya
Janata Party on YouTube, 13 September 2013

In September 2013, Modi was named the BJP's candidate for prime minister ahead of
the 2014 Lok Sabha election.[208][209] Several BJP leaders,[210] including BJP founding member
L. K. Advani who cited concern with leaders who were "concerned with their personal
agendas", expressed opposition to Modi's candidature.[211] Modi played a dominant role in
the BJP's 2009 general election campaign.[212][213] Several people who voted for the BJP
stated they would have voted for another party if Modi had not been the prime-ministerial
candidate.[208][214][215] The focus on Modi as an individual was unusual for a BJP election
campaign.[210][216] The election was described as a referendum on Narendra Modi.[188]

Modi meets his mother after winning the 2014 Indian general
election
During the campaign, Modi focused on corruption scandals under the previous Congress
government, and played on his image as a politician who had created a high rate of GDP
growth in Gujarat.[210] He projected himself as a person who could bring about
"development" without focusing on specific policies.[210] His message found support among
young and middle-class people. The BJP under Modi was able to downplay concerns
about the protection of religious minorities and Modi's commitment to secularism, areas in
which he had previously received criticism.[213] Prior to the election, Modi's media image
had centred around his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots but during the campaign, the BJP
focused on Modi's neoliberal ideology and the Gujarat model of development.[213] The BJP
sought to identify itself with political leaders who publicly opposed Hindu nationalism,
including B. R. Ambedkar, Subhas Chandra Bose and Ram Manohar Lohia.[161] Hindutva
remained a part of the campaign; BJP leaders used Hindutva-based rhetoric in several
states.[217][210][214][40] Communal tensions were played upon, especially in Uttar Pradesh
and Northeast India.[217] A proposal for the controversial Uniform Civil Code was a part of
the BJP's election manifesto.[40] The BJP's campaign was assisted by its wide influence in
the media.[193] Modi's campaign blitz cost around ₹50 billion (US$600 million)[188] and the
BJP received extensive financial support from corporate donors.[218] In addition to more-
conventional campaign methods, Modi made extensive use of social media[188][210] and
addressed more than 1,000 rallies via hologram appearances.[40]

The BJP won 31 per cent of the vote,[39] and more-than-doubled its number of seats in the
Lok Sabha to 282, becoming the first party to win a majority of seats on its own
since 1984.[213][214] Voter dissatisfaction with the Congress and with regional parties in North
India, and support from the RSS were reasons for the BJP's success.[214][210] In states such
as Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP performed well, it drew exceptionally high support from
upper-caste Hindus, and its Muslim vote increased to 10 per cent. The BJP performed
particularly well in parts of the country that had recently experienced violence between
Hindus and Muslims.[214] The magnitude of the BJP's victory led many commentators to say
the election constituted a political realignment away from progressive parties towards the
right-wing.[40][188][214][219][220] Modi's tweet announcing his victory was described as being
emblematic of the political realignment away from a secular, socialist state towards
capitalism and Hindu cultural nationalism.[221]

Modi was a candidate for the Lok Sabha constituencies Varanasi and Vadodara.[222] He
won in both constituencies, defeating Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi
by 371,784 votes and Madhusudan Mistry of the Congress in Vadodara by 570,128 votes.
[223]
India's president appointed Modi, who was unanimously elected leader of the BJP,
Prime Minister of India.[224][225] To comply with the law prohibiting MPs from representing
more than one constituency, he vacated the Vadodara seat.[226]

2019 Indian general election

Main article: Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2019 Indian general election
External videos

BJP announced manifesto and Shri Narendra Modi

as prime minister candidate. Bharatiya Janata Party
on YouTube, 8 April 2019.

On 13 October 2018, Modi was named the BJP candidate for prime minister in the 2019
general election.[227] The BJP's chief campaigner was its president Amit Shah. Modi
launched the party's Main Bhi Chowkidar ("I too am a watchman") campaign ahead of the
general election, against the INC's campaign slogan Chowkidar Chor Hai ("The watchman
is a thief").[228] In 2018, the Telugu Desam Party split from the NDA over the campaign for
special status for Andhra Pradesh.[229]

Amit Shah launched the BJP's election campaign on 8 April 2019. In the campaign, the
opposition targeted Modi on allegations of corruption over the Rafale deal with
the Government of France, highlighting the controversy surrounding the deal.[230] Modi's
campaign focused on defence and national security, especially after the Pulwama
attack and the retaliatory Balakot airstrike, which was counted as an achievement of his
administration.[18][231] Other topics in the campaign were development and good foreign
relations in the first premiership.[232]

Modi contested the Lok Sabha election as a candidate for Varanasi; he won the seat by a
margin of 479,505 votes, defeating Shalini Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP), who stood
as a candidate for the SP-BSP alliance.[233][234] Modi was unanimously appointed prime
minister for a second time by the National Democratic Alliance[235] after the alliance won the
election for the second time with 353 seats in the Lok Sabha; the BJP alone won 303
seats.[236][237]

2024 Indian general election

Main article: Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2024 Indian general election

Modi taking charge of the Prime Minister of India for the third
consecutive term
In November 2023, Modi was named the BJP candidate for prime minister in the 2024
general election.[238] The BJP's chief campaigner was its home minister Amit Shah and
President J. P. Nadda.[239] Modi launched the party's "Modi Ki Guarantee" ("Modi's
assurance")[240] campaign ahead of the general election, against the INC's guarantees
campaigns, that led to the party's enormous victories in the assembly elections
of Karnataka and Telangana.[241]

Modi contested the Lok Sabha election as a candidate for Varanasi for the third
consecutive time; he won the seat by a margin of 152,513 votes, defeating Ajay Rai of
the Indian National Congress (INC), who contested as a candidate for the SP-INC alliance.
His victory margin was the second lowest ever (in percentage points) for a sitting Prime
Minister in India.[242][243] The National Democratic Alliance secured a total of 292 seats, 20
seats ahead of simple majority, and the BJP solely winning 240 seats.[244] Modi thanked the
voters for reposing faith in his government for the 3rd consecutive time.[245]

Prime Minister (2014–present)

Main article: Premiership of Narendra Modi
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the premiership of Narendra Modi.

Modi taking the oath of office as the Prime Minister of India,

with President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath Modi

taking the oath of office as the Prime Minister of India for the second time, with President Ram
Nath Kovind administering the oath Modi taking the oath of
office as the Prime Minister of India for the Third time, with President Droupadi
Murmu administering the oath
After the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a landslide
in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister (PM) of India on 26
May 2014, becoming the first Indian PM to be born after the country's independence from
the British Empire in 1947.[246] Modi's second term as PM began in 2019 following the
NDA's 2019 Lok Sabha election win. On 6 December 2020, he became the fourth-longest-
serving Prime Minister of India and the longest-serving non-Congress prime minister.[247]

Governance and other initiatives

Modi's first year as PM saw significant centralisation of power.[161][248] Modi, who initially
lacked a majority in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, passed a
number of ordinances to enact his policies, leading to further centralisation of power. [249] His
administration enacted a bill to increase its control over the appointment of judges and
reducing that of the judiciary.[39] In December 2014, he abolished the Planning
Commission, replacing it with the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog),
[250][251]
concentrating the power previously with the planning commission in the person of the
PM.[249][250][251][252][253] The Planning Commission had in previous years been criticised for
creating inefficiency in the government and of not fulfilling its role of improving social
welfare but since the economic liberalisation of the 1990s, it had been the major
government body responsible for measures related to social justice.[251][254] In its first year of
administration, the Modi government launched investigations through the Intelligence
Bureau into numerous civil society organisations and foreign non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) on the grounds these organisations were slowing economic growth.
The investigations were criticised as a witch hunt. International humanitarian aid
organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres, and environmental nonprofit organisation Sierra
Club and Avaaz were among the groups that were investigated.[161][252] Cases of sedition and
terrorism laws were filed against individuals who criticised the government.[161][255] This led to
discontent within the BJP about his style of functioning and drew comparisons to the
governing style of Indira Gandhi.[161][249]

Modi repealed 1,200 obsolete laws in first three years as prime minister; 1,301 such laws
had been repealed by previous governments in the previous 64 years.[256][257][258] Modi
launched the Digital India programme with the goal of ensuring government services are
available electronically, build infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet access to rural
areas, boost manufacturing of electronic goods in the country, and promote digital literacy.
[259][260]

In 2019, a law to reserve 10 per cent of educational admission and government jobs for
economically disadvantaged individuals was passed.[261][262] In 2016, Modi's administration
launched the Ujjwala scheme to provide free liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to
rural households. The scheme led to an additional 24% of Indian households having
access to LPG in 2019 as compared to 2014.[263] In 2022, the government eliminated LPG
subsidies for all citizens except those covered by the Ujjwala program.[264]

Since May 2023, ethnic tensions between some groups have resulted in violent
clashes in Manipur. After 1 month of the violence, nearly 100 were killed and more than
36,000 people were displaced.[265] Modi has been criticised for his lack of reaction towards
the violence.[266]

Hindutva
Further information: Hindutva

Modi at Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple

The activities of a number of Hindu nationalist organisations increased in scope after
Modi's appointment as prime minister, sometimes with the government's support.[267]
[268]
These activities included a Hindu religious conversion programme, a campaign against
the supposed Islamic practice of "Love Jihad" (an Islamophobic[274] conspiracy theory)[269]: 226–
227 [275]: 1–2 [276]
and attempts to celebrate Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, by
members of the right-wing organisation Hindu Mahasabha.[277][278] Government officials,
including the Home Minister, defended the conversion programmes.[217]

Links between the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) grew stronger
under Modi. The RSS provided organisational support to the BJP's electoral campaigns
while the Modi administration appointed RSS-affiliated individuals to prominent
government positions.[279] In 2014, Yellapragada Sudershan Rao, who had previously been
associated with the RSS, became the chairperson of the Indian Council of Historical
Research (ICHR).[40] Historians and former members of the ICHR, including those
sympathetic to the BJP, questioned Rao's credentials as a historian and stated the
appointment was part of an agenda of cultural nationalism.[40][280][281] During its first term, the
Modi administration appointed other RSS members to lead universities and research
institutions, and recruitment of faculty members favouring the RSS increased. According to
scholars Nandini Sundar and Kiran Bhatty, many of these appointees did not possess the
qualifications for their positions.[282] The Modi administration also made numerous changes
in government-approved history textbooks that de-emphasised the role of Jawaharlal
Nehru and glorified that of Modi while also portraying Indian society as harmonious, and
without conflict and inequity.[282][283]

In 2019, the Modi administration passed a citizenship law that provides a route to Indian
citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan
who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians,[284][285] but does not grant
eligibility to Muslims.[286][287][288] This was first time religion had been overtly used as a criterion
for citizenship under Indian law; it attracted global criticism and prompted
widespread protests that were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.[282][288][289] Counter-
demonstrations against the protests developed into the 2020 Delhi riots, caused chiefly by
Hindu mobs attacking Muslims.[290][291] Fifty-three people were killed in the protests, two-
thirds of whom were Muslim.[292][293][294][295][296] On 5 August 2020, Modi visited Ayodhya after
the Supreme Court in 2019 ordered contested land in Ayodhya to be handed to a trust to
build a Hindu temple and ordered the government to give alternative 5 acres (2.0 ha) of
land to the Sunni Waqf Board for the purpose of building a mosque.[297] Modi became the
first PM to visit temples at Ram Janmabhoomi and Hanuman Garhi.[298]

Soon after Modi returned to power in 2019, he took three actions the RSS had long called
for.[282] The practice of Triple Talaq was made illegal and became a punishable act from 1
August 2019.[299][300][301] The administration repealed Article 370 of the Indian constitution that
granted autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, and also abrogated its statehood, reorganising
it into the union territories Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.[282][302] The region was placed
under a lockdown and internet services were suspended and were not completely restored
until February 2021.[303] Thousands of people, including hundreds of political leaders, were
detained.[304][305][306][307] The Supreme Court of India did not hear constitutional challenges to
the reorganisation or the Citizenship Amendment Act. According to Bhatty and Sundar,
this is an example of the subversion of the Supreme Court and other major institutions,
which were filled with appointees favouring the BJP.[282]

During his campaign for 2024 Indian general election, Modi referred to Muslims as
infiltrators with many children who would take India’s wealth, if his political opponents
gained power.[308][309] In a later interview, Modi said that regardless of the social class, there
are more children in neighbourhoods plagued by poverty. He said he made no mention of
Muslim or Hindu in his campaign speech.[310][311] However, factcheckers have refuted this
claim of Modi and found numerous instances across his election campaign where he
communally targeted the Muslims.[312][313]

Economy

BRICS leaders in 2019. Left to

right: Xi (China), Putin (Russia), Bolsonaro (Brazil), Modi and Ramaphosa (South Africa)
The Modi government's economic policies focused on privatisation and liberalisation of the
economy, and were based on a neoliberal framework.[252][314] Modi liberalised India's foreign
direct investment policies, allowing more foreign investment in several industries, including
defence and railways.[252][315][316] Other proposed reforms included making the forming of
unions more difficult for workers, and making recruitment and dismissal easier for
employers;[314] some of these proposals were abandoned after protests.[317] The reforms
drew strong opposition from unions: on 2 September 2015, eleven of the country's largest
unions—including one affiliated with the BJP—struck.[314] The Bharatiya Mazdoor
Sangh (Indian Workers Union), a constituent of the Sangh Parivar (Family of the RSS),
stated the underlying motivation of labour reforms favoured corporations over labourers. [252]

The funds dedicated to poverty-reduction programmes and social welfare measures were
greatly reduced by Modi's administration.[161] The money spent on social programmes
declined from 14.6 per cent of GDP during the previous Congress government to 12.6 per
cent during Modi's first year in office, and spending on health and family welfare declined
by 15 per cent.[252] The government lowered corporate taxes, abolished the wealth tax,
increased sales taxes, and reduced customs duties on gold and jewellery.[252] In October
2014, the Modi government deregulated diesel prices.[318] During Modi's first term, his
government reduced spending on education as share of the budget: over five years,
education spending dropped from 0.7 per cent of GDP to 0.5 per cent.[319][320][321] The
percentage of the budget spent on children's nutrition, education, health, and associated
programmes was almost halved between 2014 and 2022.[322] Capital expenditure on
transport infrastructure significantly rose, increasing from less than 0.4 per cent of GDP in
2014 to 1.7 per cent in 2023.[323]

In September 2014, Modi introduced the Make in India initiative to encourage foreign
companies to manufacture products in India with the goal of turning the country into a
global manufacturing hub.[252][324] Supporters of economic liberalisation supported the
initiative but critics said it would allow foreign corporations to capture a greater share of the
Indian market.[252] Modi's administration passed a land-reform bill that allowed it to acquire
private agricultural land without conducting a social impact assessment, and without the
consent of the farmers who owned it.[325] The bill was passed via an executive order after it
faced opposition in Parliament but was eventually allowed to lapse.[249] Modi's government
passed the Goods and Services Tax, the biggest tax reform in the country since
independence, subsuming around 17 taxes and became effective on 1 July 2017.[326]

Modi at the launch of the Make in India programme

In his first cabinet decision, Modi set up a team to investigate black money.[327] On 9
November 2016, the government demonetised ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes with the
intention of curbing corruption, black money, terrorism and the use of counterfeit currency.
[328]
The move led to severe cash shortages,[329][330][331] and a steep decline in the Indian stock
indices BSE SENSEX and NIFTY 50,[332] and sparked widespread protests throughout the
country.[333] It is estimated 1.5 million jobs were lost and that one per cent of the country's
GDP was wiped out.[334] Several deaths were linked to the rush to exchange cash.[335][336] In
the subsequent year, the number of income tax returns filed for individuals rose by 25 per
cent and the number of digital transactions steeply increased.[337][338]

Modi's administration has observed a decline in GDP growth and increasing joblessness
compared to the previous administration under Manmohan Singh.[339] During the first eight
years of Modi's premiership, India's GDP grew at an average rate of 5.5% per cent
compared tho the rate of 7.03 per cent under the previous government.[340] Income
inequality increased.[341] An internal government report said in 2017, unemployment
increased to its highest level in 45 years. The loss of jobs was attributed to the 2016
banknote demonetisation, and the effects of the Goods and Services Tax.[342][343] GDP
growth was 6.12 per cent in the 2018–19 financial year, with an inflation rate of 3.4 per
cent.[344] In the year 2019–20, the GDP growth rate slowed to 4.18 per cent, while inflation
increased to 4.7 per cent.[345] The Indian economy shrunk by 6.6 per cent during the
COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–21, and was estimated to grow at 8.2 per cent the following
financial year.[346]

Health and sanitation

See also: Swachh Bharat Mission
In his first year as prime minister, Modi reduced the central government's healthcare
spending.[194] In January 2015, the Modi government launched its New Health Policy (NHP),
which did not increase the government's spending on healthcare but emphasised the role
of private healthcare organisations. This represented a shift away from the policy of the
previous Congress government, which had supported programmes to assist public health
goals, including a reduction in child and maternal mortality rates.[347] The National Health
Mission, which included public health programmes targeted at these indices, received
nearly 20 per cent less funding[348][349] in 2015 than in the previous year. The Modi
administration reduced the healthcare budget by a further 15% in its second year.[350] The
healthcare budget for the following year rose by 19%; private insurance providers
positively viewed the budget but public health experts criticised its emphasis on the role of
private healthcare providers and said it represented a shift away from public health
facilities.[351] The healthcare budget rose by 11.5% in 2018; the change included an
allocation of ₹20 billion (US$240 million) for a government-funded health insurance
program and a decrease in the budget of the National Health Mission.[352]

Modi discussing the COVID-19 pandemic with Chief Ministers

via videoconferencing in June 2020
Modi emphasised his government's efforts at sanitation as a means of ensuring good
health.[347] On 2 October 2014, Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission ("Clean India")
campaign. The campaign's stated goals included the elimination of open
defecation and manual scavenging within five years.[353][354] As part of the programme, the
Indian government began constructing millions of toilets in rural areas and encouraging
people to use them.[355][356][357] The government also announced plans to build new sewage
treatment plants,[358] and planned to construct 60 million toilets by 2019. The construction
projects faced allegations of corruption and severe difficulty in getting people to use the
newly constructed toilets.[354][355][356] Sanitation cover in India increased from 38.7% in October
2014 to 84.1% in May 2018 but use of the new sanitary facilities was lower than the
government's targets.[359] In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated at least
180,000 diarrhoeal deaths in rural India were averted after the launch of the sanitation
effort.[360]

In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Modi administration invoked
the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Disaster Management Act, 2005.[361][362] The same
month, all commercial domestic and international flights were suspended.[363] Modi
announced a 14-hour curfew on 22 March,[364] and followed with a three-week "total
lockdown" two days later.[365][366] Restrictions were gradually lifted beginning in April, and
were completely revoked in November 2020.[363][367][368] A second wave of the pandemic that
began in March 2021 was significantly more devastating than the first; some parts of India
experienced shortages of vaccines, hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and other medical
supplies.[369] In late April India reported over 400,000 cases in a 24-hour period, the first
country to do so.[370] India began its vaccination programme in January 2021;[371][372] in
January 2022, India announced it had administered about 1.7 billion doses of vaccines
and that more than 720 million people were fully vaccinated.[373] In May 2022, the WHO
estimated 4.7 million people had died of COVID-19 in India, mostly during the second
wave in mid 2021—almost 10 times the Indian government's estimate. The Modi
administration rejected the WHO's estimate.[24][25]

Foreign policy
Further information: Foreign policy of Narendra Modi and Modi's international trips as
prime minister

Modi with U.S. President Donald Trump at Namaste Trump rally

in Ahmedabad, India
Foreign policy played a small role in Modi's election campaign and did not feature
prominently in the BJP's election manifesto.[374] Modi's foreign policy, similarly to that of the
preceding Congress government, focused on improving economic ties, security and
regional relations.[374] Modi continued Manmohan Singh's policy of "multi-alignment".[374] The
Modi administration tried to attract foreign investment in the Indian economy from several
sources, especially East Asia, with the use of slogans such as "Make in India" and "Digital
India". The government also tried to improve relations with Islamic nations in the Middle
East, such as Bahrain, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as
with Israel.[k]

Modi meeting Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi in New

Delhi in January 2018
India's relationship with the United States improved after Narendra Modi became PM.
[376]
During the run-up to the general election, there was wide-ranging scepticism about
future of the strategic bilateral relationship under Modi's premiership; in 2005, while Chief
Minister of Gujarat, Modi was denied a US visa during the presidency of George W.
Bush for his poor human-rights record.[164][165] Sensing Modi's victory well before the
election, US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell contacted Modi as part of
greater rapprochement from the West. Following Modi's 2014 appointment as India's
PM, President Obama congratulated him over the telephone and invited Modi to visit the
US.[377] The Modi government enjoyed a positive relationship with the US during the
presidencies of Barack Obama and his successor Donald Trump.[378][379]

During the first few months after his appointment as PM, Modi visited a number of
countries in support of his policy, and attended the BRICS, ASEAN and G20 summits.
[374]
One of Modi's first visits as PM was to Nepal, during which he promised one billion US
dollars in aid.[380] Modi also made several visits to the US;[381] this was described as an
unexpected development because of the US's earlier denial of a US travel visa to Modi
over his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. The visits were expected to strengthen diplomatic
and trade relations between the two countries.[381]

In 2015, the Indian parliament ratified a land-exchange deal with Bangladesh in the India–
Bangladesh enclaves, which the government of Manmohan Singh had initiated.[249] Modi's
administration brought renewed attention to India's "Look East Policy", which was
instituted in 1991. The policy, which was renamed the "Act East Policy", involved directing
Indian foreign policy towards East Asia and Southeast Asia.[382] The government signed
agreements to improve land connectivity with Myanmar through the Indian state
of Manipur; this represented a break with India's historic engagement with Myanmar,
which prioritised border security over trade.[382] China–India relations rapidly deteriorated
following the 2020 China–India skirmishes.[383] Modi pledged aid of $900 million to
Afghanistan, which he visited twice and was honoured with Afghanistan's highest civilian
honour in 2016.[384][385] In September 2022, Modi appeared to have developed a strong
personal relationship with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.[386][387][388]

G20 Presidency
India hosted the 2023 G20 New Delhi summit, during which the African Union joined the
G20 as a permanent member.[389] In an interview on 26 August 2023, Prime Minister Modi
expressed optimism about the G20 countries' evolving agenda under India's presidency,
shifting toward a human-centric development approach that aligns with the concerns of
the Global South, including addressing climate change, debt restructuring through the
G20's Common Framework for Debt, and a strategy for regulation of
global cryptocurrencies.[390][391][392]

News sources CNN, Reuters and the Washington Post reported that in the lead up to the
G20 meeting, the Indian authorities, including the Archaeological Survey of
India embarked on a mass demolition drive against homeless
shelters and slum neighbourhoods across New Delhi resulting in the eviction of
its marginalised residents[393][394][395] The Indian government's press agency Press Information
Bureau rejected the claims, and said that they were done as per the Supreme court of
India orders and not linked to the 2023 G20 New Delhi summit.[396]

Defence

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Modi

visiting the Technology Exhibition, at Tel Aviv, Israel in 2017
India's nominal military spending steadily increased under Modi.[397] During Modi's tenure,
the military budget declined, both as a fraction of GDP and when adjusted for inflation. [398]
[399]
A substantial portion of the military budget was devoted to personnel costs
commentators wrote the budget was constraining Indian military modernisation.[398][400][399]

Modi promised to be "tough on Pakistan" during his election campaign and repeatedly
called Pakistan an exporter of terrorism.[401][402][403] On 29 September 2016, the Modi
administration said Indian Army had conducted a surgical strike on terror launch
pads in Azad Kashmir; the Indian media said up to 50 terrorists and Pakistani soldiers had
been killed in the strike.[404][405][406] Pakistan denied any surgical strikes to have taken place.
[407]
Subsequent reports said India's statement about the scope of the strike and the number
of casualties had been exaggerated.[401][408][409] In February 2019, India carried
out airstrikes against a supposed terrorist camp in Pakistan; no targets of significance
were hit.[410][411] Further military skirmishes, including cross-border shelling and the loss of an
Indian aircraft, occurred.[412][413][414] Eight months after the incident, the Modi administration
admitted that six Indian military personnel had been killed by friendly fire.[415]

PM Modi along with Quad leaders in Washington

In May 2020, Chinese and Indian troops engaged in an aggressive skirmishes along
the Sino-Indian border, including near the disputed Pangong Lake, Ladakh, and the Tibet
Autonomous Region and near the border between Sikkim and the Tibet Autonomous
Region. Additional clashes took place in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual
Control (LAC).[416] In 2020, skirmishes between the nations led to many border clashes,
responses and reactions from both sides.[417] A series of talks between India and China
were held, using military and diplomatic means for peace.[418] The first border clash
reported in 2021 was on 20 January; this was referred to as a minor border clash in
Sikkim.[419] Modi has been criticised for maintaining silence over ceding about 2,000 sq km
land to China since June 2020.[420][421][422]

In December 2021, Modi signed an agreement with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to
extend military technical cooperation.[423] The Modi government bought the S-400 missile
system, an anti-missile striking system, strengthening the relationship between the two
nations.[424] India refused to condemn the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and stayed
neutral.[423][425] The Indian government's Operation Ganga initiative sought to return Indians
stranded in Ukraine during the war. More than 19,000 Indian nationals were evacuated, [426]
[427]
including some from neighbouring countries.[428]

Environment
 Modi (right) at CoP21 Climate Conference, in Paris,
announcing the founding of an International Solar Alliance (ISA). November 2015.
While naming his cabinet, Modi renamed the Ministry of Environment and Forests the
"Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change", and more-than-halved its money
allocation in his administration's first budget.[429] The new ministry removed or diluted a
number of laws related to environmental protection, and others related to industrial activity.
[252]
The government also tried to reconstitute the National Board for Wildlife so it would no
longer have representatives from NGOs but the Supreme Court of India blocked this
move.[430] Other changes included a reduction of ministry oversight on small mining projects
and ending the requirement for approval from tribal councils for projects inside forested
areas. Modi also lifted a moratorium on new industrial activity in India's most-polluted
areas.[430] The changes were welcomed by businesspeople but criticised by
environmentalists.[431]

Speaking with Assamese students in 2014, Modi downplayed climate change, saying,
"Climate has not changed. We have changed. Our habits have changed. Our habits have
got spoiled. Due to that, we have destroyed our entire environment."[432] Later in his
administration, however, he has called for climate action,[433][434] especially with the
proliferation of clean energy.[435][436] In 2015, Modi proposed the International Solar
Alliance initiative to encourage investment in solar energy.[437] Holding developed countries
responsible,[438] Modi and his government have said India has had a negligible historical
role in climate change. At the COP26 conference, Modi announced India would
target carbon neutrality by 2070 and expand its renewable energy capacity.[439] Indian
environmentalists and economists applauded the decision, describing it as bold climate
action.[440] India has become the only major economy to be on track to meet its Paris
Agreement goals.[441] It has achieved 10 per cent of ethanol blending five months ahead of
schedule.[442]

Democratic backsliding
Under Modi's tenure, India has experienced democratic backsliding.[f] According to one
study, "The BJP government incrementally but systemically attacked nearly all existing
mechanisms that are in place to hold the political executive to account, either by ensuring
that these mechanisms became subservient to the political executive or were captured by
party loyalists".[31][443] The Modi government has used state power to intimidate and stifle
critics in the media and academia, undermining freedom of expression and alternative
sources of information.[444][32] His administration has been criticised for using a democratic
mandate to undermine democratic processes, including focusing on Hindu-nationalist
priorities rather than economic development. Modi's second term as PM, in particular, saw
the erosion of civil rights and press freedom.[445]

Public perception and image

Further information: Public image of Narendra Modi
 Modi at Yoga Day celebrations in New Delhi, 21 June 2015
Narendra Modi has received consistently high approval ratings during his premiership.[35]

Image
Modi is a vegetarian and teetotaller,[446][447] who has a frugal lifestyle, and is
a workaholic and introvert.[448] On 31 August 2012, he posted on Google Hangouts,
becoming the first Indian politician to interact with citizens on a live chat. [449][450] Modi has
been called a fashion icon for his signature crisply ironed, half-sleeved kurta, and for a suit
with his name repeatedly embroidered in the pinstripes, which he wore during a state visit
by US President Barack Obama, which drew public and media attention, and criticism.[451][452]
[453]
Scholars and biographers have described Modi's personality as energetic, eccentric,
arrogant and charismatic.[39][454]

The nomination of Modi for the prime-ministership drew attention to his reputation as "one
of contemporary India's most controversial and divisive politicians".[188][455][456] During the 2014
election campaign, the BJP projected an image of Modi as a strong, masculine leader who
would be able to take difficult decisions.[188][208][210][214][215] Campaigns in which he has
participated have focused on Modi as an individual, an unusual tactic for the BJP and
RSS.[210] Modi has relied upon his reputation as a politician able to bring about economic
growth and development.[457] Modi's role in the 2002 Gujarat riots continues to attract
criticism and controversy.[10] Modi's hardline Hindutva philosophy and the policies adopted
by his government also continue to draw criticism, and have been seen as evidence of a
majoritarian and exclusionary social agenda.[10][39][161][210]