Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi born 17 September 1950) is the 15th and the currentPrime Minister of India. Modi, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also served as Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014.
Modi was a key strategist for the BJP in the successful 1995 and 1998 Gujarat state election campaigns. He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001 and served longer by far in that position than anyone else to date. He was a major campaign figure in the2009 general election, which the BJP led National Democratic Alliance lost to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). He led the BJP in the April–May 2014 general election, which resulted in a majority for the BJP in the Lok Sabha, first time any party has done so since 1984.
Modi is a Hindu Nationalist and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He is a controversial figure both within India as well as internationally as his administration has been criticised for the incidents surrounding the 2002 Gujarat riots. He has been praised for his economic policies, which are credited with creating an environment for a high rate of economic growth in Gujarat. However, his administration has also been criticised for failing to make a significant positive impact upon the human development of the state.
Early life and education
Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a family of grocers belonging to the backwardGhanchi-Teli (oil-presser) community, in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of what was thenBombay State (present-day Gujarat), India.[11][12][13][14][15] He was the third of four children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife, Heeraben.[16] He helped his father sell tea at Vadnagar railway station. As a child and as a teenager, he ran a tea stall with his brother near a bus terminus.[17][18] In 1967, he completed his schooling inVadnagar, where a teacher described him as being an average student, but a keen debater who had an interest in theatre.[17][19]
That interest has influenced how he now projects himself in politics.[20] At the age of eight, Modi came in contact with RSS and he began attending its local shakhas where he came in contact with Lakshmanrao Inamdar, popularly known as Vakil Saheb, who is known as his political guru and mentor. Inamdar inducted Modi as a balswayamsevak, a junior cadet in RSS. During his morning exercise session at the keri pitha shakha of RSS, he also came in contact with Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal Jaghda, leaders of the Jan Sangh who later founded the BJP's Gujarat state unit in 1980.[21][22][23][24][25][26]
Modi's parents arranged his marriage as a child, in keeping with the traditions of the Ghanchi caste. He was engaged at the age of 13 to Jashodaben Chimanlal and the couple were married by the time he was 18. They spent very little time together and were soon estranged because Modi decided to pursue an itinerant life.[17][27] However as per Modi's biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, the marriage was never consummated.[28] Having remained silent on his marital status, during declarations related to candidature during four state elections since 2002 and having claimed that his status as a single person meant that he had no reason to be corrupt, Modi acknowledged Jashodaben as his legal spouse when filling in his nomination form for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.[29][30]
As per Modi in Kishore Makwana's Common Man Narendra Modi, published in 2014, after leaving home at 17, he went to Ramakrishna Mission ashram in Rajkot and then to theBelur Math near Kolkata. Then he went to Guwahati and later joined another ashram set up by Swami Vivekananda in Almora, in the Himalayan foothills. Two years after, he returned to Vadnagar and after a brief halt at his house, Modi left again for Ahmedabad, where he lived and worked in a tea stall run by his uncle where he again came in contact with Lakshmanrao Inamdar who was then based at Hedgewar Bhavan, the RSS headquarters in the city.[21][22][23] He then worked in the staff canteen of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation until he became a full–time pracharak (propagandist) of the RSS in 1970.[25] In 1978, Modi graduated with an extramural degree through Distance Education in political science from Delhi University.[22][28] In 1983, while remaining as a pracharak in the RSS, completed his Master's degree in political science from Gujarat University.[19][31] He still continues to visit Belur Math occasionally[32][33] and talks about his reverence for the Ramakrishna Mission.[34]
Early political career
Modi formally joined the RSS after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[28] After Modi had received some RSS training in Nagpur, which was a prerequisite for taking up an official position in the Sangh Parivar, he was given charge of Sangh's student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, in Gujarat. During 1975-1977, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhideclared a state of the emergency, political opponents were jailed and political organisation including RSS were banned. Modi went underground in Gujarat and to evade arrest was occasionally disguised as a Sikh, saint, elderly man etc. and printed and sent booklets against the central government to Delhi. He also organised agitations and covert distribution of Sangh's pamphlets.[17][28][35][36]
He also participated in the movement against the Emergency under Jayaprakash Narayan. He was made the general secretary of the Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti and his primary role was to coordinate between activists in the state.[22][37] During this period he wrote a book titled Sangharsh ma Gujarat (Gujarat’s struggle) in Gujarati which chronicles events, anecdotes as well as his personal experiences.[36][38][39] The RSS assigned Modi to the BJP in 1985.[25] While Shankersinh Vaghela and Keshubhai Patel were the established names in the Gujarat BJP at that time, Modi rose to prominence after organising Murli Manohar Joshi's Kanyakumari-Srinagar Ekta yatra (Journey for Unity) in 1991.[17] In 1988, Modi was elected as organizing secretary of BJP's Gujarat unit,[40] marking his formal entry into mainstream politics.[28] As secretary, his electoral strategy was central to BJP's victory in the 1995 state elections.[25][41][42]
In November 1995, Modi was elected National Secretary of BJP and was transferred to New Delhi where he was assigned responsibility for the party's activities in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.[41][43] Vaghela defected from the BJP after he lost the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, having previously threatened to do so in 1995.[17] Modi was promoted to the post of General Secretary (Organisation) of the BJP in May 1998. While on the selection committee for the 1998 Assembly elections in Gujarat, Modi favoured supporters of Patel over those loyal to Vaghela, in an attempt to put an end to the factional divisions within the party. His strategies were credited as being key to winning the 1998 elections.[41]
Chief Minister of Gujarat
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In 2001, Keshubhai Patel's health was failing, and the BJP had lost seats in the by-elections. Allegations of abuse of power, corruption and poor administration were being made, and Patel's standing had been damaged by his administration's handling of the Bhuj Earthquake of 2001.[41][44][45] As a result, the BJP's national leadership sought a new candidate for the office of chief minister, and Modi, who had aired his misgivings about Patel's administration, was chosen as a replacement.[17] L. K. Advani, a senior leader of the BJP, did not want to ostracise Patel and was worried about Modi's lack of experience in governance. Modi declined an offer to be Patel's deputy chief minister, informing Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee that he was "going to be fully responsible for Gujarat or not at all", and on 7 October 2001, Modi was appointed the Chief Minister of Gujarat, with the responsibility of preparing the BJP for elections in December 2002.[citation needed] As Chief Minister, Modi's ideas of governance revolved around privatisation and small government, which stood at odds with what political commentator Aditi Phadnis has described as the "anti-privatisation, anti-globalisation position" of the RSS.[44]
First term (2001–2002)
2002 Gujarat riots
Main article: 2002 Gujarat riots
On 27 February 2002, a train with several hundred passengers including large numbers of Hindu pilgrims was burned near Godhra, killing around 60 people.[a] Following rumors that the fire was carried out by Muslim arsonists, anti-Muslim violence spread throughout Gujarat.[48] Estimates of the death toll ranged from 900 to over 2,000, while several thousand more people were injured.[49][50] The Modi government imposed a curfew in major cities, issued shoot-at-sight orders, and called for the army to prevent the violence from escalating.[51][52] However, human rights organizations, opposition parties, and sections of the media all accused Gujarat's government of taking insufficient action against the riots, and even condoning it in some cases.[51][52][53] Modi's decision to move the corpses of the Kar Sevaks who had been burned to death in Godhra to Ahmedabad had been criticised for inflaming the violence.[54][55]
In March 2008, the Supreme Court asked the state government to re-investigate nine cases in the 2002 Gujarat riots, including the Gulbarg Society incident, and constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the cases afresh.[53][56][57] Responding to a petition from Zakia Jafri, widow of Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre, the Supreme court in April 2009 asked the SIT to probe her complaint alleging that Modi and another minister had been complicit in the killing.[56][58] The SIT questioned Modi in March 2010, and in May 2010 presented its report before the Court, stating that it found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.[56][59] In July 2011, theamicus curiae Raju Ramachandran submitted his final report to the Supreme Court, stating that Modi could be prosecuted based on the available evidence, contrary to the position of the SIT. The Supreme court handed the matter to the magistrate court, and left it to the SIT to examine Ramachandran's report. Ramachandran's report was criticised by the SIT for relying on the testimony of Sanjiv Bhatt, who, it said, had fabricated the documents used as evidence.[60] The SIT submitted its final report in March 2012, seeking closure of the case. Zakia Jaffri filed a protest petition, which was rejected by the magistrate court in December 2013. The court stated that there was no evidence against Modi in the case.[61]
Modi's involvement in the events of 2002 has continued to be debated. Several scholars have described the events of 2002 as a pogrom, while others have called it an instance of state terrorism.[62][63][64] Summarizing academic views on the subject, Martha Nussbaum stated that "There is by now a broad consensus that the Gujarat violence was a form of ethnic cleansing, that in many ways it was premeditated, and that it was carried out with the complicity of the state government and officers of the law."[65] In 2012, Maya Kodnani, a former minister in Modi's Government from 2007 – 2009, was convicted of having participated in the Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 riots.[66][67] She was both the first female and the first MLA to be convicted in a post-Godhra riots case.[68] While initially announcing that it would seek the death penalty for Kodnani, Modi's government eventually pardoned her in 2013 and settled for a prison sentence.[69][70][71]
A few months after the riots, New York Times reporter Celia Dugger asked Modi if he wished he handled the riots any differently. He told her his only regret was that he did not handle the news media better[72][73] and cited India's NDTV channel as being irresponsible in its reporting.[74]
2002 election
Main article: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2002
In the aftermath of the violence, there were widespread calls for Modi to resign from his position as chief minister of Gujarat. These came from both within and outside the state, including from the leaders of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Telugu Desam Party, which were allies in then BJP-led NDA government at the centre. The opposition parties stalled the national parliament over the issue.[75][76] In April 2002, at the national executive meeting of BJP at Goa, Modi submitted his resignation; however, it was rejected by the party.[77] On 19 July 2002, Modi's cabinet had an emergency meeting and offered its resignation to the Governor of Gujarat, S. S. Bhandari, and the assembly was dissolved.[78][79] In the subsequent elections, the BJP, led by Modi, won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly.[80] Modi made significant use of anti-Muslim rhetoric during his election campaign, though he later denied it.[81][82][83][84]
Second term (2002–2007)
Despite allegations of using anti-Muslim rhetoric during the campaign, Modi's emphasis shifted during his second term from Hindutva to the economic development of Gujarat.[44][81] Modi's decisions curtailed the influence of organizations of the Sangh Parivar such as the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP),[85]which had become entrenched in Gujarat after the decline of Ahmedabad's textile industry.[44] Modi dropped Gordhan Zadafia, an ally of his former Sangh co–worker and VHP state chief Praveen Togadia, from the cabinet ministry. When the BKS launched a farmers' agitation, Modi ordered their eviction from houses provided by the state government. Modi's decision to demolish 200 illegal temples in Gandhinagar deepened the rift with VHP.[85][86] Various organisations of the Sangh were no longer consulted nor informed of Modi's administrative decisions prior to their enactment.[85]
The changes brought by Modi in the period 2002–2007 has led to Gujarat being called an attractive investment destination. Aditi Phadnis writes that "there was sufficient anecdotal evidence pointing to the fact that corruption had gone down significantly in the state... if there was to be any corruption, Modi had to know about it".[44] Modi started financial and technology parks in the state. During the 2007 Vibrant Gujarat summit, real estate investment deals worth ₹6.6 trillion were signed in Gujarat.[44]
Despite his focus on economic issues during the second term, Modi continued to be criticised for his relationship with Muslims. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then Prime Minister of India, who had asked Modi not to discriminate between citizens in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat violence and had pushed for his resignation as Chief Minister of Gujarat,[87][88]distanced himself from Modi and reached out to North Indian Muslims before the 2004 elections to the Lok Sabha. After the elections, Vajpayee held that the violence in Gujarat had been one of the reasons for BJP's electoral defeat and acknowledged that not removing Modi immediately after the Gujarat violence was a mistake.[89][90]
2007 election
Further information: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2007
In the run up to the assembly elections in 2007 and the general election in 2009, the BJP stepped up its rhetoric on terrorism.[91] On 18 July 2006, Modi criticised the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, "... for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislations" such as the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act. He asked the national government to allow states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the 2006 blasts in Mumbai.[92] Around this time Modi frequently demanded the execution of Afzal Guru,[93] a collaborator of the Pakistani jihadists who had been convicted of terrorism for his involvement in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.[94][b] As a consequence of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Modi held a meeting to discuss security of Gujarat's 1,600 km (990 mi) long coastline which resulted in the central government authorisation of 30 high–speed surveillance boats.[95]
In July 2007, Modi completed 2,063 consecutive days as chief minister of Gujarat, making him the longest-serving holder of that post.[96] The BJP won 122 of the 182 seats in the state assembly in the 2007 election, and Modi continued as chief minister.[97]
Third term (2007–2012)
Development projects
Successive BJP governments under Patel and Modi supported NGOs and communities in the creation of infrastructure projects for conservation of groundwater. Gujarat is a semi-arid state and, according to Tushaar Shah, was "... never known for agrarian dynamism". By December 2008, 500,000 structures had been constructed, of which 113,738 were check dams. While most check dams remained empty during the pre-monsoon season, they helped recharge the aquifers that lie beneath them.[98] 60 of the 112 tehsils which were found to have over–exploited the groundwater table in 2004 had regained their normal groundwater level by 2010,[99] meaning that Gujarat had managed to increase its groundwater levels at a time when they were falling in all other Indian states. As a result, production of genetically-modified Bt cotton, which could now be irrigated using tube wells, increased to become the largest in India.[98] The boom in cotton production and utilization of semi–arid land[100] saw the agriculture growth rate of Gujarat increase to 9.6% in the period 2001–2007.[101]Though public irrigation measures in the central and southern areas, such as the Sardar Sarovar Project, have not been as successful in achieving their aims,[98] for the decade 2001–2010, Gujarat recorded an agricultural growth rate of 10.97%, the highest among all Indian states.[100] However, sociologists have pointed out that the growth rate under the Congress government during 1992-97 was at 12.9%.[102]
The Narendra Modi government also succeeded in bringing electricity to every village in Gujarat, although Dipankar Banerjee points out that all but 170 of them had been electrified under the previous Congress administration.[102] Modi also greatly changed the system of power distribution in the state, with a significant impact on farmers. The state greatly expanded the Jyotigram Yojana scheme, in which the agricultural electricity supply was rewired to separate it from other rural power supplies. The electricity supplied was then rationed to fit scheduled demand for irrigation, resulting in a cost reduction. Initial farmer protests died down when the farmers who benefited found that supply had become more regular.[98] An assessment study found that corporations and large farmers had significantly benefited from the policy, but that small farmers and laborers had been negatively impacted.[103]
In his third term, progress was made on the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City project, considered as one of Modi's pet projects. The first phase, which encompassed two skyscrapers, GIFT One and Two, was completed in 2012.[104][105]
Debate on Gujarat's development under Modi
Modi's government has worked to brand Gujarat as a state of dynamic development, economic growth and prosperity, using the slogan "Vibrant Gujarat".[106][107][108] However, critics have pointed to Gujarat's relatively poor record on human development, poverty alleviation, nutrition, and education. The state is 13th in India for poverty, 21st for education, 44.7 percent of children under five are underweight and 23 percent are undernourished putting the state in the "alarming" category on the India State Hunger Index.[109] In contrast, officials from the state of Gujarat claim that Gujarat outperformed India as a whole in the rates of improvement of multiple human indicators, such as female education, between 2001 and 2011. Furthermore, they claim that the school dropout rates declined from 20 percent in 2001 to 2 percent in 2011, and that maternal mortality declined by 32 percent from 2001 to 2011.[110] Additionally, the Indian Supreme Court, in a review of theLand Acquisition Act, 1894, identified Gujarat as being one of the few states from which there were no complaints of forcible land acquisition.[111]
Political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot asserts that the development in Gujarat has been limited to the urban middle class, while rural dwellers and lower castes have become increasingly marginalised. He cites the fact that Gujarat ranks 10th among the 21 Indian states in the Human Development Index, which he attributes to the lower development in rural Gujarat. He states that under Modi, the number of families living below the poverty line has increased, and that particularly rural adivasi and dalits have become increasingly marginalised.[112] In July 2013, Economics Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen criticised Narendra Modi's governance record and said he did not approve of it, saying that under Modi's administration, Gujarat's "record in education and healthcare is pretty bad".[113] However, economists Arvind Panagariya and Jagdish Bhagwati state that Gujarat's social indicator improved from a much lower baseline than other Indian states. They state that Gujarat's performance in raising literacy rates has been superior to other states in India, and the "rapid" improvement of health indicators in Gujarat as evidence that "its progress has not been poor by any means."[114]
Sadbhavana mission and fasts
During late 2011 and early 2012, Modi undertook a series of fasts as part of a Sadbhavna Mission (Goodwill Mission), meant to reach out to the Muslim community in Gujarat.[115]Modi announced that he believed that his fast would "further strengthen Gujarat’s environment of peace, unity and harmony."[116]
The mission started on 17 September 2011 in Ahmedabad with a three-day fast. He subsequently observed 36 fasts in 26 districts and eight cities.[117] However, these fasts were not well received by all Muslims; for example, Modi's refusal to wear a skull cap offered to him by a Muslim cleric named Sayed Imam Shahi Saiyed[118] of a Dargah in Piranawas was deemed an insult by the cleric.[119] Another example occurred when Modi was fasting in Godhra, the site of the train burning that sparked the 2002 riots: a number of activists were detained for allegedly planning rallies against Modi.[120][121] Although some criticised his fast as a public relations mission,[122] Modi himself denied that the mission was about wooing "any particular community or religion".[123]
Press and public relations
Modi interacted with netizens on Google+ on 31 August 2012.[124] The chat session was also broadcast live on YouTube.[124] The questions were submitted before the chat, and those broadcast were mostly based on issues about education, youth empowerment, rural development and causes of urbanisation.[125] The hashtag #ModiHangout became the most trending term in India at Twitter on the day of the session, whereas #VoteOutModi, used by Modi's opponents, became the third most trending term in the country.[124] The event made Modi the first Indian politician to interact with netizens through live chat on the internet.[126]
Fourth term (2012–2014)
Further information: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2012
In the 2012 Gujarat legislative assembly elections, Modi won from the constituency of Maninagar with a majority of 86,373 votes over Sanjiv Bhatt's wife, Shweta, who was contesting for the Indian National Congress.[127] The BJP won 115 of the 182 seats, continuing the majority that the party has had throughout Modi's tenure,[128] and allowing the party to form the government, as it has in Gujarat since 1995.[129]
In later by-elections, the BJP won an additional four assembly seats and 2 Lok Sabha seats that were all held by the Indian National Congress prior to the by-elections, even though Modi never campaigned for its candidates.[130] This brought the number of seats held by the BJP in the state assembly up to 119.
In 2013, the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania cancelled a keynote video-conference speech by Modi after some Indian-Americans lobbied against Modi.[131]
After being elected as Prime Minister, Modi resigned from the post of chief minister on 21 May 2014, and his MLA seat from the Maninagar constituency, after delivering a leaving speech described as emotional. Anandiben Patel was chosen as his replacement.[132]
National government
2009 election
Modi played a role in the 2009 national general election campaign.[133][134] On 31 March 2013, Modi was appointed to the BJP Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making body of the party.[135][136] On 9 June 2013, Modi was appointed Chairman of the BJP's Central Election Campaign Committee for the 2014 general election, at the national level executive meeting of BJP.[137] The party's senior leader and founding member Lal Krishna Advaniresigned from all his posts at the party following the selection, protesting against leaders who were "concerned with their personal agendas"; the resignation was described by The Times of India as "a protest against Narendra Modi's elevation as the chairman of the party's election committee". However, Advani withdrew his resignation the next day at the urging of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.[138] In September 2013, BJP announced Modi as their prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha election.[139]
2014 general election
Narendra Modi contested the election from two constituencies: Varanasi[140] and Vadodara.[141] His candidacy was supported by spiritual leaders Ramdev and Morari Bapu,[142] and by economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya, who have stated that they, "...are impressed by Modi's economics." [143] His detractors included Nobel Prize laureate economist Amartya Sen, who said that he did not want Modi as a Prime Minister because he had not done enough to make minorities feel safe, and that under Modi, Gujarat's record in health and education provision has been "pretty bad".[113]
Modi won from both seats he contested; defeating Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, in Varanasi and Madhusudan Mistry of theIndian National Congress in Vadodara (by a margin of 5,70,128 votes, the second highest ever).[144] He led the BJP-led NDA to a decisive victory in the general elections in which the ruling Indian National Congress suffered its worst ever defeat.[145][146][147] Modi was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP parliamentary party following his party's victory in the Indian parliamentary elections and was subsequently appointed the prime minister by India's president.[148][149] To comply with the rule that a MP can not hold two constituencies, Modi vacated the Vadodara seat.[150]
Prime Minister
Main article: Swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister on 26 May 2014 at the Rastrapati Bhavan. He is India's first prime minister born after the country's independence.[151] In a first of its kind, Modi invited all SAARC leaders to attend his swearing-in ceremony;[152] the attendees included Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif,[153] Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Maldives president President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and speaker of Bangladesh Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam of Mauritius (SAARC observer).[154][155]
International diplomacy
As chief minister of Gujarat
To attract foreign investment in Gujarat during his time as chief minister, Modi made visits to countries such as China, Singapore and Japan.[156] He also visited China in November 2006 to study the Special Economic Zones that were about to be implemented in Gujarat.[157] He again visited in September 2007[158] and later in November 2011. A month after his visit of 2011, the Chinese Government released 13 diamond traders from India who had been jailed by the Shenzhen Customs, which Modi attributed to his diplomatic efforts and statesmanship.[159][160]
In 2005, Modi was denied a diplomatic visa to the United States. In addition, the B-1/B-2 visa that had previously been granted to him was also revoked, under a section of theImmigration and Nationality Act which makes any foreign government official who was responsible or "directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom" ineligible for the visa.[161] In July 2013, BJP president Rajnath Singh visited the US and gave a speech urging the US to grant Modi a visa to visit the country.[162][163] In response to Singh's visit, 65 Members of the Indian parliament allegedly signed a letter to US President Barack Obama requesting that the policy of denying Modi a visa be upheld.[164] However, the veracity of some of the signatures has been called into question, as Sitaram Yechury and purported signatories have denied ever signing such a petition[165] In March 2014, when asked if Washington was ready to do business with Modi, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal commented that "the United States has welcomed every leader (of India)", and "a democratically elected leader of India will be a welcome partner".[166]
A report in April 2014 in the Sunday Guardian revealed that by the end of 2012, a reversal in foreign policy towards Modi by Obama had occurred. Previously, during the tenure of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, efforts were made to "get Narendra Modi", apparently for the 2002 Gujarat riots, but in reality "for taking stands that may be different from that favoured by the US administration". The clandestine operation had run through European NGOs, and efforts were made to find mass-graves in Gujarat, which could be presented as "evidence of genocide" to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.[citation needed] According to the report, despite six years of searching, aided by local politicians, "no evidence whatsoever of mass graves was uncovered".[167] As the prospect of Modi becoming India’s leader became more real, U.S. diplomats reached out to him and tried to improve relations.[168]
In 2011, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, impressed with the development of Gujarat, invited Modi to visit Pakistan and address prominent business leaders. They also asked him to consider a flight between Karachi and Ahmedabad, on account of the historical cultural and economic relations between the two regions of Gujarat and Sindh. Modi wanted to help Pakistan out of its power crisis, especially in Sindh, suggesting Pakistan can follow the 'Gujarat Model' in two ways — Gujarat Solar Park and Kalpasar Project.[169]
In April 2014, in a move described as "unexpected", senior Pakistani diplomats told The Daily Telegraph that Modi is their preferred choice for the Prime Minister of India, "as he could provide the strong leadership necessary for peace talks".[170]
The United Kingdom refused to deal with Modi for a decade following the 2002 violence but lifted its diplomatic boycott in October 2012.[171] Later, in March 2013, the European Union, of which the UK is a member, also ended its boycott, saying that talking with Modi was a separate issue from that of protecting human rights and the rights of women.[172]
Although boycotted by Western nations, Modi visited Japan in 2012. According to Ryohei Kasai, research fellow at the Center for South Asian Studies, Gifu Women's University, Japan, "There is a growing interest in Modi in Japan with much anticipation that he will reshape India by revitalizing its economy and better governance.[citation needed] I believe Japan has an excellent relationship with him. Not only have successive Japanese ambassadors to India been regular guests in 'Vibrant Gujarat' investors' summit (organized biennially) but Japanese private companies also made a big amount of investment in the state."[173]
As Prime Minister of India
Modi invited the leaders of SAARC countries to his oath-taking ceremony for taking office as Prime Minister, in order to strengthen the diplomatic relationship and increase business.[174]
Personality and image
Modi is a vegetarian.[175] He has a frugal lifestyle with a personal staff of three. He is a workaholic and an introvert.[176] He writes poems in Gujarati.[177] As a speaker, he is known as a crowd-puller.[178] In the critical opinion of Somini Sengupta, writing for The New York Times in a 2009 article on the Supreme Court's ordering of an investigation into Modi's role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, "Mr. Modi has assiduously sought to reinvent himself from a scruffy mascot of Hindu nationalism to a decisive corporate-style administrator"[53]
Modi has been labelled by the media and some articles in peer-reviewed journals as a controversial, polarising, and divisive figure,[179][180][181] but British economist Jim O'Neill, author of the BRIC report, wrote on his blog that Modi is "good on economics", one of the things that "India desperately needs in a leader".[182] In August 2013, financial analyst Chris Wood, chief strategist of CLSA, wrote in his weekly Greed & Fear that "the Indian stock market's greatest hope is the emergence of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate".[182]
Awards and recognitions
- Gujarat Ratna by Shri Poona Gujarati Bandhu Samaj at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on celebration of centenary year.[183]
- e-Ratna award by the Computer Society of India[184]
- Best Chief Minister – In a nationwide survey conducted in 2007 by India Today magazine, Narendra Modi was declared the Best Chief Minister in the country.[185]
- Asian Winner of the fDi Personality of the Year Award for 2009 by FDi magazine.[186]
- In March 2012, Modi appeared on the cover of the Asian edition of Time, one of India's few politicians to have done so.[187]
- Modi was featured in Time's 2014 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[188]
