Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed 23 years at the helm of a government on Monday (October 7).
While Modi has been the Prime Minister of India since 2014, he was previously the Chief Minister of Gujarat during 2001-14. He has been one of the longest-serving CMs of India.
In his long innings in public office, Modi has many firsts to his credit. Since becoming the PM of India in 2014, he has won two subsequent parliamentary elections and has introduced several initiatives that have come to define India.
Here are five things to know about Modi’s long innings in public office.
Long innings as CM
Modi was selected by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to be the CM of Gujarat in 2001. He took charge in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.
By the time Modi left Gujarat to become the PM of India, Gujarat was touted as one of the best-performing states in the nation in terms of ease of doing business, development, industrial growth, etc. He became the longest-serving chief minister of the state.
Modi also took over Gujarat at a politically unfavourable time. His predecessor, Keshubhai Patel, had resigned over electoral setbacks. By 2014, Modi had turned Gujarat into a bastion of the BJP which has remained with the saffron party till now. In the 2022 assembly elections, the BJP swept across the state and won 156 of 182 seats. In the 2024 parliamentary elections, even as the BJP suffered losses in Uttar Prades and elsewhere, Modi’s home state Gujarat remained firmly with the BJP.
From CM of Gujarat to PM of India
In 2013, the BJP named Modi as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections.
Under Modi’s leadership, the BJP became the first party to form a majority government for the first time in decades. The party repeated the feat again in 2019.
Modi’s rise as the PM of India also marked the generational shift in Indian politics. He is the first PM of India to be born after the independence of India. In selecting him for the prime ministerial role, the BJP also gave the reins to a new generation of leaders. The 2014 elections marked the conclusion of the era of BJP’s patriarchs Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
Only PM after Nehru to have 3rd straight term
When Modi took oath as PM of India in June,
he became only the second PM of India after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to have a third straight term.
Modi is also set to have one of the longest prime ministerial tenures ever after Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
Ushering in a ‘New India’
Since taking over as the PM of India in 2014, Modi has a taken a series of steps and announced initiatives that he has clubbed under the banner of ‘New India’.
While many of these steps are policy shifts, such as better ties with the Middle East’s Islamic nations while also improving ties with Israel and revival of groups like the Quad and pursuing a muscular national security policy, there are several tangible initiatives as well, such as the Central Vista Project in Delhi.
Many social initiatives
Modi has been the driving force of one of the most consequential governmental social interventions in India: Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
Just like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan before, the SBM has changed the rural landscape. The construction of toilets en mass under SBM has not just improved sanitation in rural households but has also reduced child mortality.
A study published in Nature journal said that
SBM may have saved up to 60-70,000 per year since 2014.
There have been several other initiatives as well, such as the push for cooking gas connections to replace fossil fuels in households, the push for piped water connections, and the push for renewables such as household solar panels.
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Modi completes 23 years as head of govt today, 5 things to know
