Narendra modi

Narendra Damodardas Modi (Gujarati: [nəreːnd̪rə d̪ɑːmoːd̪ərəd̪ɑːs moːd̪iː] ( ), born 17 September 1950) is the 15th and current Prime Minister of India, in office since May 2014. Modi, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), previously served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat state from 2001 to 2014. He is currently the Member of Parliament (MP) from Varanasi.

Modi led the BJP in the 2014 general election, which resulted in an outright majority for the BJP in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian parliament) – the last time that any party had secured an outright majority in the Lok Sabha was in 1984. Since then, Modi has also been credited for the BJP's electoral victories in the states of Haryana and Maharashtra in October 2014.[3]

Modi is a Hindu Nationalist and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).[4][5] He is a controversial figure both within India as well as internationally[6][7][8][9] as his administration has been criticised for failing to act to prevent the 2002 Gujarat riots.[9][10] Modi has been praised for his economic policies, which are credited with creating an environment for a high rate of economic growth in Gujarat.[11] However, his administration has also been criticised for failing to make a significant positive impact upon the human development of the state.[12]

Early life and education

Modi with his mother Heeraben on his 63rd birthday on 17 September 2013.

Narendra Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a family of grocers in Vadnagar, Mehsana district, in Bombay State (present-day Gujarat).[13][14][15] His family belonged to the Ghanchi (oil-presser) community, which is categorised among the other backward classes by the Indian government. He was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand and Heeraben Modi.[16] As a child, he helped his father Damodardas sell tea at the Vadnagar railway station, and later ran a tea stall with his brother near a bus terminus.[17][18] He completed his schooling in Vadnagar in 1967, where a teacher described him as being an average student, but a keen debater with an interest in theatre.[17][19] An early gift for rhetoric in debates was noted by teachers and students at the time.[20] Modi also showed a preference for playing larger than life characters in theatre performances which has influenced the image he portrays of himself in politics

At the age of eight, Modi came into contact with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and began attending its local shakhas, or training sessions. There he met Lakshmanrao Inamdar, popularly known as Vakil Saheb, who was to become Modi's political mentor. Inamdar inducted Modi as a balswayamsevak, or junior cadet in the RSS.[23] While training with the RSS, he also met Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal Jaghda, Bharatiya Jana Sangh leaders who were later founding members of the BJP's Gujarat unit in 1980.[24][25][26][27]

In keeping with the traditions of the Ghanchi caste, Modi's marriage was arranged by his parents while he was still a child. He was engaged at the age of 13 to Jashodaben Chimanlal, and married when he was 18. They spent little time together, and were soon estranged when Modi decided to pursue an itinerant life.[17][28] The marriage was reportedly never consummated.[29] Modi kept the marriage secret for most of his career, only acknowledging the existence of his wife when filing his nomination for a parliamentary seat in the 2014 general elections.

Little is known of the time he spent traveling; however, in interviews Modi has spoken of visiting various Hindu ashrams, or places of Hindu religious learning, founded by Swami Vivekananda. The first of these was the Belur Math near Kolkata. He later visited the Advaita Ashrama in Almora, and the Ramakrishna mission in Rajkot. However he was only able to stay for a short period in each ashram, as he lacked a college education, and the institutions were strictly limited to postgraduates.after two years of travel, Modi returned to Vadnagar, and after a brief visit left agai