Prime minister Narendra Modi is marking his 74th birthday on Tuesday (September 17). A career politician, PM Modi has already solidified his legacy as one of the rare individuals to be serving a third consecutive term as the head of the national government in India.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which keeps a detailed biography of each PM of India, has a lot to say on Modi’s life and journey.
For PM Modi, the PMO starts with a grand statement: “History was scripted in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan on the evening of 26th May 2014 as Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of India”. It says that he took on the position after “a historic mandate” from the people of the country.
The PMO describes Modi as a “dynamic, decisive and development-oriented leader”.
His focus, as outlined by the PMO, has always been on development and improving the lives of the poorest in society.
Modi’s life, as chronicled by the PMO, is one of modest beginnings in Vadnagar, Gujarat. Born on September 17, 1950, into a family of humble origins, he is noted as the first Indian Prime Minister born after India gained independence.
The PMO’s account cites unnamed friends to give insights into his childhood. “His school friends remember that as a child also he was very industrious and had an affinity for debates and a curiosity to read books,” it says.
The website then sheds light on a phase of Modi’s life that is, without doubt, a well-documented narrative in mainstream media.
The PMO says that at 17, Modi left home to travel across India. Upon returning, he was a changed man who, having formulated a clear aim of what he wanted to do in life, joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). where he developed into a skilled organizer.
It is interesting to note that in 1970s, a young Modi joined the movement to “restore democracy in India.”
His political rise continued when he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The PMO’s account says that Modi “ensured that the BJP was a close second to the Congress in the 1990 Gujarat Assembly elections.” Five years later, in the 1995 Assembly elections, he was one of the leaders who oversaw the BJP’s vote share in the state increase such that the party won 121 seats in the Assembly.
The PMO, documenting PM Modi’s time as Chief Minister of Gujarat, describes his leadership as a “paradigm shift towards pro-people and pro-active good governance.”
His philosophy of “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” is another central theme in the PMO’s portrayal, with the idea of converging governance through his Pancha-Amrut framework.
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‘History was scripted in…2014’: What PMO says about Narendra Modi
