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Narendra Modi

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Narendra Modi
Chief Minister of Gujarat
ConstituencyManinagar
Personal details
Born (1950-09-17) September 17, 1950 (age 74)
Vadnagar, Mehsana district, Gujarat, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Residence(s)Gandhinagar, Gujarat
As of June 18, 2006
Source: Government of Gujarat

Narendra Dāmodardās Modī (Gujarati: નરેંદ્ર દામોદરદાસ મોદી, born September 17, 1950) is the incumbent Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat since October 7, 2001.

He participated in the rise to political dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat as its elections organiser in the early 1990s, a period which led to its election in 1995. He became Gujarat's Chief Minister in October 2001, promoted to that office when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel resigned, following the defeat of the BJP in by-elections.

He was re-elected in December 2002 as chief minister with 126 seats in the 182-member assembly. Apart from the controversy that was generated due to his staunch support of Hindutva, he is widely regarded an excellent administrator who turned Gujarat into an economic powerhouse.[1][2]


Biography

Modi was born in the northern Mehsana district of Gujarat, to a middle-class family. As a young man, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist organisation. He became a full-time worker and organiser for it, and was later nominated by it to be a representative on the Bharatiya Janata Party.[3] He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the year 1974 and was involved in the anti-corruption Nav Nirmāṇ ("Reconstruction") Movement.[4] He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the early 1980s. He helped maintain the relations between the RSS and the BJP. In 1988 he became the General Secretary of the Gujarat State BJP unit. 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."[5]

He was believed to be a back-room operator for the political party in the beginning, but during the elections he portrayed himself as a pro-Hindu leader and campaigned on a platform of Hindutva.[6]

In 1995 he was made the National Secretary of the party, in charge of five major states in India. His friends and supporters passionately call him 'Narendra bhai'. He is single and a strict vegetarian.

Chief Ministership

Gujarat earthquake

In October 2001, he was asked by the party to head the government in Gujarat. In 2001, Gujarat was facing problems because of several natural calamities having struck in the preceding years, including the massive Gujarat Earthquake in January 2001. Modi immediately worked to re-organize and catalyze the local economy[7].

Economic growth

Modi re-organised the government's administrative structure and embarked upon a massive cost-cutting exercise in order to compensate for economic losses[8]. Before his arrival to power, the economy was shrinking and domestic growth was stagnant[2]. During his first administration, Gujarat registered a GDP growth rate of over 10%, the highest growth rate among all the states in India[9]. Over the last year, growth has registered at 11.2%[10].

The Gujarat government credits Modi with reducing the fiscal deficit of the state exchequer by fifty percent and reducing the losses of the Gujarat State Electricity Board. He has increased the availability of electricity in many parts of rural Gujarat. One of the most significant achievements of his government has been successful raising of the height of the Narmada Dam from 95 to 110.64 metres, which resulted in increased irrigation, water supplies and hydroelectric power [8].

Modi is considered front-runner in party's leadership among the next generation of politicians, in fact he has often been projected as BJP's future potential prime ministerial candidate by many senior leaders. A section of society calls him "Chhotte Sardar" the next Sardar Patel who is most distinguished politician from Gujarat-State who is the architect of India with immpeccable contribution to India's freedom movement.

Social reforms

The Gujarat government under Modi tackled the issue of nutrition in schools by fortifying much of the food with folic acid. Also adding vitamine A and D in vegetable oils and iron in wheat flour.Due to these and other reforms, the number of children suffering from anemia and night blindness have decreased[2].

Gujarat violence

Main article: 2002 Gujarat violence

In February 2002, when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, violence broke out across the state claiming around a thousand lives. An official estimate stated that 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed, 223 people were reported missing and 2,500 were injured. [11] The riots followed the Godhra Train Burning incident, where 58 Hindus were burnt alive on a train carriage, which was set on fire by Muslim fundamentalists.[12]

India's Supreme Court made an observation ocomparing Modi to Roman Emperor Nero, remembered in popular legend as playing his lyre while Rome burned. Modi's Hindu-nationalist government looked elsewhere while innocent people were burning and was probably deliberating how to protect the killers, it said in a 2004 judgement. The United States revoked a visa for Modi the following year, on the grounds that he was responsible for severe violations of religious freedom.[13]

Investigations

Subsequent reports from Human Rights Watch and the national Human Rights Commission have claimed that Modi and his ministers had complicity in the riots that was tacit, if not explicit [14]. The report was quoted and expanded on by the United States State Department's country human rights reports for 2003[15]. The National Human Rights Commission criticized the government, pointing to "a comprehensive failure on the part of the State Government of Gujarat to control persistent violations of rights".[16] The claims of Human Rights Watch and associated groups have been rejected by Modi, and the BJP and the BJP's supporters have also stated that the reports are politically motivated.

A judicial commission constituted to examine allegations of Gujarat state administration's involvement in the riots of 2002 has twice so far said that there was no evidence as yet to implicate either Modi or his administration in the riots.

Political fallout

As an aftermath to the riots, there were calls for Modi to resign as chief minister of Gujarat.The opposition parties stalled the national parliament over the issue. Even allies of the BJP like DMK and TDP were asking for Modi's resignation.[17][18] Modi submitted his resignation to the Governor and recommended the dissolution of the 10th Gujarat Legislative Assembly.[19][20] In the subsequent elections, the BJP, led by Modi, won the elections by a huge margin.

Election campaign speech at Mangrol

In December 2007, during a campaign speech in Mangrol, South Gujarat, Modi mentioned the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case[21], keeping in mind the polarised electorate in the state.

He said: "Congress is saying that Modi got the encounter done. I'm telling the Congress, you have a Government at the Centre. If u have the guts, come and hang me. Sohrabuddin is the one who attacked the police with AK47s on our soil. Then what does the Gujarat Police do?"

"Congress in Gujarat should explain to the people what should be done to a man who stored illegal arms and ammunition. You tell me, what should have been done to Sohrabuddin?"

He managed to whip up such a communal frenzy with his words that the crowd begin to chant "kill him, kill him" in response to Modi's question on what should have been done to Sohrabuddin.

And when the people shouted "kill him", Modi said: "Well, that is it. Do I have to take Sonia Gandhi's permission to do this? Hang me if I have done anything wrong."[22]

Subsequently the Election Commission issued a notice to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after he justified the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake encounter.

Position on terror killings

On July 18,2006, Modi delivered a speech criticizing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislations" such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He asked the Centre to empower states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the blasts in Mumbai.[23] Quoting Modi:

Terrorism is worse than a war. A terrorist has no rules. A terrorist decides when, how, where and whom to kill. India has lost more people in terror attacks than in its wars.[23]

Preceded by Chief Minister of Gujarat
6 October 2001 – 		Succeeded by
Current Incumbent

Template:Sangh

References

  1. ^ "Cover story: Narendra Modi - Face of Discord" (HTML). Swapan Dasgupta. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  2. ^ a b c Riots+economic growth=? Indian Express - October 15, 2007
  3. ^ "Biography - Narendra Modi". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Biography Narendra Modi". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Gujarat CM Modi, is a role model" (HTML). Press Trust of India. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  6. ^ "BBC Profile: Narendra Modi" (HTML). Rajyasri Rao. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  7. ^ Modi for early revival of Kutch economy The Hindu - October 21, 2007
  8. ^ a b Chief Minister - Government of Gujarat
  9. ^ How to achieve 10% GDP growth Rediff - March 16, 2006
  10. ^ Don't mention the massacre Economist - December 6, 2007
  11. ^ "Gujarat riot death toll revealed". BBC News. 2005. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Train Carrying Hindus Set Afire by Mob in India, The Institute for Counter-terrorism
  13. ^ [1]Reuters Article"Five years on, India's "modern-day Nero" prospers"
  14. ^ Times of India
  15. ^ Times of India
  16. ^ "We have no orders to save you". Human Rights watch. 2005. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Gujarat Cabinet puts off decision on elections". The Tribune. 2002. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Congress demands Modi's resignation over Bannerjee report" (HTML). UNI. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  19. ^ "Modi resigns; seeks Assembly dissolution". The Hindu. 2002. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi resigns; assembly dissolved" (HTML). Rediff.com. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  21. ^ [2]Hindustan Times article
  22. ^ [3]Mangrol speech comments
  23. ^ a b Mahatma on lips, Modi fights Centre,The Telegraph
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