Early Life The 14th Prime Minister Narender Modi, who many call self-made, rose from humble beginnings to become the leader of millions of people in India. He is a polarizing figure, being both a hero and a villain in his home country. Belonging to a Gujrati family from Vadnaagar, he started off by selling tea along with his father.
Many years later after completing school, he left home to travel around Northern and North Eastern India for 2 years in search of spiritual peace and salvation, and returned to join the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS), a Hindu nationalistic volunteer organization as a permanent member in 1971 .
Rise to Power, BJP (Bhartya Janta Party) The RSS party introduced him to the Bhartya Janta Party (BJP) in 1985, and from then onwards he took up post after post eventually rising to the rank of General secretary of BJP. His party promotes strong Hindu nationalistic sentiments, which he capitalized on and later on became the longest serving chief minister of Gujrat in 2001.
Eventually he gained popularity through implementing business-friendly policies and by developing the city. By further promoting the nationalistic belief he earned the support of religious extremists thereby deciding to run for elections and that too from the ancient city of Varanasi which is situated on the banks of river Ganges. The city is sacred to Hindus and every year millions of pilgrims visit to perform various religious rituals. Modi thought that this would serve as the perfect scenery to contest elections from.
“I have not come on my own, nore anyone has called me, it is Maa Ganga who has invited me,” PM Modi
Further toying with the Hindu feelings of nationalism he claimed that he is the chosen one who has been called on the river banks by Maa Ganga (Hindu Goddess) to uplift people out of economic and social misery. Modi’s rapid development of the city gained him a huge number of votes from the Hindu community, since he made his mark on the people of Varanasi by undertaking various development projects and executing them timely. Riots and Blame game
After he assumed office as the chief minister, word spread that Modi’s party had been involved in the 2002 Gujrat riots, where a large number of muslims were massacred. The Supreme court however found no evidence of BJP’s involvement in the massacre and hence the matter slowly faded. You call it manipulating or strategizing, he not only based his election campaign on the Hindu nationalistic sentiments but also by bringing the scandals of corrupt politicians into light.
He pointed out the Chopper scam under the Congress rule in 2012. This is an example of corruption which involved senior officials and the helicopter manufacturing company Augusta Westland. It started when this company gave a bribe to get the contract for supplying 12 helicopters worth USD 610 million. The Italian court in 2008 presented the note stating that the Congress President Sonia Gandhi was involved in the scam which Modi greatly used to his advantage during the election campaign by further manipulating the people. Modi’s term as the Prime Minister 2014-2019
BJP swept the 2014 general elections gaining majority votes in Lok Sabah, the first time for any single party to win by such a majority since 1984. Modi himself contested from two constituencies Varanasi and Vadodara winning from both. After coming into power, Modi paid vital importance to foreign direct investment and uplifting the economy whereas very little efforts were taken to improve the healthcare sector and the social sector. The unbridled nationalism wave was on the rise in India. His followers placed him on such a high platform that they even built a temple in his name and completed it with the statue of the Prime minister in the state of Gujrat.
He vowed to be tough with Pakistan, continuously calling Pakistan a hub of terrorism. In 2016 the Indian army conducted a surgical strike, claiming to kill 50 terrorists and Pakistani soldiers. However the Indian media received backlash as they exaggerated the facts. There were however cross border strikes but rarely any terrorists were killed, though it further fueled tensions with Pakistan. Events almost leading to a nuclear war with pakistan under Modi Following the Pulwama attack on the Indian Military, where the latter claimed to have conducted another surgical strike on a supposed terrorist camp in Balakot, situation worsened.
This lead to a war-like situation and further skirmishes resulted in an Indian Aircraft being destroyed and a pilot being captured. By this time Modi was busy campaigning for the 2019 elections and spreading anti-Pakistan sentiments and without any regard to national security, he almost lead the two countries into a nuclear war. His followers continued to grow as he capitalized on the fact that it were his dire efforts that lead to the destruction of Pakistani terrorist camps. Lok Sabah 2019, Modi re-elected!
Following the events that lead to the highly anticipated Election days, Modi’s election campaign was in full swing, and each day he was making successful speeches. In the days leading to the election result, he sought spiritual peace in the Kedarnath temple where he was seen praying. The seven-phase Lok Sabah elections gave an overwhelming majority to BJP that won 350 seats out of 542 even though the party needed 272 seats for a majority in the lower house of parliament. This actually gave a first back to back majority to his party. Now that India has once again re-elected Modi as the new Prime Minister, the next 5 years will most likely tell the tale.