NARENDRA MODI
Narendra Damodardas Modi was born in Vadnagar, a small town in district of Mehsana, Gujarat on September 17, 1950. He was third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and Smt. Heeraben.
As a teenager he helped his iather sell tea at Vadnagar railway station and later ‘ran a tea stall with his brother. He was considered as an average student by his teachers but was also observed as a keen debater and was known for playing larger than life characters in theater. He has a Master’s degree in political science from Gujarat University. During his college days he acted as a propagandist in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
He always had zeal to serve and help people. As a young boy during the Indo-Pak war in 1960s, he voluntarily offered service to the soldiers in alteration at the railway stations. He also served the people of Gujarat during the flood in 1967.
He spent a lot of time travelling to ashrams founded by Swami Vivekanand in Belur Math, Almora and Rajkot. He has also written various books like Jyotipunj, Abode of Love, Premirth, Kelve Te Kelavani, Sakshibhav and Samajik Samarsata.
He started working in Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation’s staff canteen. Eventually from there he became a full-time proponent and campaigner of the RSS. He later underwent training in the RSS camp in Nagpur and eventually joined BJP and got promoted to various positions in the party including becoming general secretary of Gufarat unit in 1988 and finally general secretary of the party in 1998 before becoming the 14th Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001.
In September 2013, he was announced as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha elections. During his campaign he pledged to speed government decision making and remove bureaucratic hurdles that have slowed the development. He is considered as a social media savvy politician and is the first Indian politician to interact with the common people live over the internet.
Following an historic win for BJP, Narendra Modi was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India on May 26,2014 and in a first of its kind, he invited all the SAARC leaders to attend his swearing in ceremony.