Essay on Narendra Modi

Let us talk today about the 14^th Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi. He was born to a grocery shop owner in a typical Gujarati family on September 17, 1950. He is one of the most famous faces of Indian politics. As of 2022, he has been the incumbent Prime Minister of India since 2014, after winning the elections in 2014. Earlier, Manmohan Singh was the Indian President. During his tenure as the Prime Minister, Mr Modi had many supportive people like Pranab Mukherjee, Ram Nath Kovind, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, etc. Recently, Draupadi Murmu was elected as the President, and Mr Modi congratulated her. His Lok Sabha Member of Parliament seat was preceded by Murli Manohar Joshi from the constituency of Varanasi. Before becoming the leader of the House (Lok Sabha), he was the 14^th Chief Minister of Gujarat from October 7 2001 - May 22, 2014. It was later succeeded by Anandiben Patel, the first woman chief minister of the respective state.

Birth, Education and Background

Born in Vadnagar, known as the Mehsana district of Gujarat in the present day, Mr Modi was one of 6 siblings born to a family of Hiraben Modi and Damodardas Mulchand Modi. He belonged to the Hindu Modh-Ghanchi-Teli community, who were the oil pressers and were declared amongst the Other Backward Classes by the Government of India. He was the third eldest child in the family. However, his long political career has not spoken much about his family and its background. But, it was before the 2014's national elections that he focused on his lower-ranked social background and his working at his father's tea shop as a child. His father's tea stall was at the Railway station platform in Vadnagar. Modi's primary education was completed while working as his father's support at the shop.

He passed the Higher Secondary exam in Vadnagar in 1967. His teachers had said him to be on average in studies but excellent in debate. They also put light on his interests in the theatre, where he used to like working on characters larger-than-life. At the age of eight, he came to know about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He actively participated in its proceedings and was a regular member of its training sessions (shakhas). He was made the organisation's balswayamsevak by Lakshmanrao Inamdar (usually called Vakil Saheb). He was known as the political mentor of Modi. While he was training, Modi came into contact with many other political leaders of Gujarat. Some notable leaders were Vasant Gajendragadkar, Nathalal Jaghda, etc.

Modi received his BA degree in Political Science while doing distance learning in 1978 at Delhi University. He passed with the third class. After five years, in 1983, similarly, as an external distance learning student, he got his first-class Masters' degree from Gujarat University in political science. However, some controversy is also wrapped around his educational qualification.

As it is known to all, child marriage was one of the standard practices in India in older times. Although due to the awareness spread by many governments, the age for marriage was later increased. But, following the old tradition, Modi's family engaged him when he was 18 years old with Jashodaben Chimanla, who was then 17 years old. But not popularly known, it is said that he never divorced her but left that relationship. They are still married but abandoned.

Swami Vivekananda is said to have had a significant impact on Modi's life. Modi lives a much more disciplined life and profoundly believes in the need for work. It is, however, said that he is an introvert. Scholars and many biographers depict him as arrogant and charismatic but energetic. He is a vegetarian and has kept Badri Meena since 2002 as his cook. As seen, he is the most interactive Prime Minister, which was proved by the post he made on Google Hangouts on August 31, 2012, to interact with citizens on a live chat. He is also a fashion icon known for his ironed, half sleeves kurta. He is also known for one of his suits, which has his name embroidered on the pinstripes. This suit was worn by him when US President Barack Obama was on a state visit.

Early Days in Politics

Modi had travelled for two years in North and Noth-east India. He has been to many of the Hindu Ashrams, such as that of Swami Vivekananda at Belur Math, Advaita Ashram of Almora, and Ramkrishna Mission of Rajkot. However, he didn't stay at any of the sites for a long time due to a lack of collegiate education. He had started working at his uncle's tea stall in mid-time. Later in 1971, Modi joined Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Jana Sangha Satyagraha, making the first political act done by Modi as an adult. This Satyagraha was somewhat connected to the Bangladesh Liberation War. But facing repression by the then Indira Gandhi government, Modi was put in the Tihar jail for a few days (a political war got initiated due to this, and a lot of RTIs were filed to the Prime Minister's Office, asking for details about his arrests). After the India and Pakistan War of 1971, Modi stopped working at his uncle's store and became a campaigner for the RSS under Inamdar.

During "The Emergency", Modi was one of the many who went underground. The "Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti" placed him as the general secretary, and it was a committee that used to coordinate with RSS. In 1978, he was made the RSS regional organiser for the region of Surat and Vadodara. He was promoted to work for RSS in Delhi the following year.

Modi as Gujarat's Chief Minister

Keshubhai Patel was the Chief Minister of Gujarat before Modi. Modi replaced Keshubhai because of his weak health and reduced popularity among the public for poor performance in the Bhuj earthquake. Hence, Modi got elected to the legislative assembly in 2001. But questions were raised about him and his leadership after the 2002 Gujarat Riots. Although Special Investigation Team was appointed by the Supreme Court, no evidence was found as such to initiate a proceeding against him. Many western countries doubted his relationship with Muslims, so the United States of America barred him from entering the nation. He became the only person to be denied a US visa under the Commission on International Religious Freedom. The European Union and the UK had also refused his permission to enter. As he got into national politics, they all lifted the bans.

It was in July 2007 that he became the person to hold the chair of Chief Minister of Gujarat for the longest period when he finished 2,063 consecutive days. Although his administration led to economic growth, it lacked in improving health, poverty and educational status and state statistics during his first tenure as the Chief Minister. He then boosted his administration and became popular in the state. In Modi's second term as the Chief Minister, the fuss from the government turned towards development from the Hindutva towards economic development. He remained the Chief Minister till 2014 when he had to resign from it after being appointed as the Prime Minister of India.

Modi as Prime Minister of India

Despite the denial of some of the senior party leaders, he was made a face for the Prime Minister in the 2014 General Election. He led the party to a win with a majority in the lower house of the Parliament. When he took the oath as the Prime Minister of this country, he was the only Indian PM born after India's independence. It is, however, said that his administration looked into the Economic sector more and reduced investment in many of the social welfare initiatives. People say that although he improved bureaucracy's efficiency, he centralised the power by abolishing Planning Commission. But some initiatives, such as revoking Articles 370 and 35A, introducing the Citizenship Amendment Act and introducing three farm laws, had caused democratic instability. He had run many distinct movements. He initiated the sanitation and demonetisation campaign, transformed the taxing system, and relaxed environmental and labour laws.

Modi's policy while being a Prime Minister is that he always tries to connect or interact with people through various means. This gives the people the incentives of the Prime Minster conversing with them. Hence, for this purpose, he holds the 'Man Ki Baat', a monthly radio program on 'All India Radio' and the 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' for interaction with students. On this December 06, 2020, he went on to be the only non - congress Prime Minister to serve for the longest tenure.

In the 2019's Indian general election, Modi initiated the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' slogan in opposition to the 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' slogan. In his second term, he was more focused on defence and national security development. Just before the elections, the Pulwama attack took place, and the Balakot airstrike was an immediate action by Indian Air Force. Hence, it was a topic in the run-to polls for him. It eventually helped him gain more popularity and support from the Indian public.

State Honours given to Modi

The State honours given to Modi by various countries are as follows -

1. The order of Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia was conferred to him on April 3 2016, as Special Class, the highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-Muslim dignitaries.
2. State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan was conferred to him on June 4 2016, which is the highest civilian honour in Afghanistan.
3. Grand Collar of the State of Palestine from Palestine was awarded to him on February 10 2018, and it was the highest civilian honour in Palestine.
4. He was given the Order of Zayed from the United Arab Emirates on April 4 2019. It is the highest civilian honour of the United Arab Emirates.
5. The order of St. Andrew from Russia was awarded on April 12 2019, as the highest civilian honour in Russia.
6. Order from the Distinguished Rule of Izzuddin from the Maldives was conferred to him on June 8 2019, which is the highest honour from the Maldives awarded to foreign guests.
7. King Hamad's Order of the Renaissance from the country of Bahrain was given on August 24 2019. It is the highest honour of Bahrain awarded to foreign dignitaries.
8. Legion of Merit from the United States was awarded to him on December 21 2020, and it was the highest degree of the Legion of Merit.
9. Order of the Dragon King was given to him from Bhutan on December 17 2021, which is said to be the highest civilian honour of Bhutan.

Awards and Recognition

1. Modi was on the cover page of Time Magazine's Asian edition twice, first in March 2012 and then in June 2014. Very few Indian politicians have reached this feat. The Times magazine declared him one of the 100 'Most Influential People' five times since 2014, the other being in 2015, 2017, 2020, and 2021.
2. He was one of Time magazine's "30 most influential people on the internet" as he was the 2^nd most followed politician on the social media platform Twitter and Facebook. In 2018, he became the 3^rd most followed leader in the world on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
3. Time's Magazine calls him the 3^rd most pivotal leader of India after independence, post-Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Based on his constant domination in the country's political aspect.
4. The CNN-News18 (CNN-IBN) network felicitated him with the Indian of the year award in 2014.
5. Forbes Magazine put him in 15^th rank in the list of 'Most Powerful Person' in the world in 2014. His rank improved to 9^th in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
6. The Bloomberg Markets Magazine described him as the 13^th Most Influential Person in World in 2015.
7. In its first list of "World's Greatest Leaders", Fortune Magazine placed Modi in the fifth position.
8. In a poll hosted by Gallup International Association in 2017, Modi was ranked as the third top leader in the world.
9. A mark of respect was given to him when the 'Madame Tussauds Wax Museum' unveiled his wax statue in London in 2016.
10. For being a focused policy leader, he was awarded the United Nation's highest environmental award. Also, he was called for "pioneering work in championing" during the International Solar Alliance and "new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action", held in October 2018.
11. For "his dedication to improving international cooperation, accelerating the Human Development of the people of India by fostering economic growth, raising global economic growth and furthering the development of democracy through anti-corruption and social integration efforts", he became the first Indian to be conferred with the 2018's Seoul Peace Prize.
12. After taking oath second time as Prime Minister of India, Modi's photo was shown on the façade of the ADNOC building in the city of Abu Dhabi, UAE.
13. To honour him, the Texas India Forum conducted a community event on September 22, 2019, in Houston, Texas, at the NRG Stadium. About 50,000 people visited the event, including many politicians from America. Hence, it became the USA's largest get-together for an invited leader from abroad, apart from Pope.
14. On September 24, 2019, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in New York City conferred him with the Global Goalkeeper Award for the 'Swachh Bharat Mission' and its progress in India under his observation.
15. The parodic 'lg Nobel Prize' in Medical education was awarded to Modi, making him the eighth leader to be awarded this award globally. He was conferred for his ability "to use the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can", in 2020.