The rise and rise of Narendra Modi

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going"

NaMo magic has worked once again. After a slew of busy parleys and top level meetings, BJP has made it official; Narendra Damodardas Modi is the PM candidate of BJP for the upcoming 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The decision came on the heels of another landmark verdict by the Supreme Court issuing death sentences to the four accused in Delhi Rape case. Modi, who is a strong advocate of setting up benches of Supreme Court in states to ensure the justice is delivered in time, would see it as a harbinger of things to come.

Narendra Modi, who is serving his fourth consecutive terms as Gujarat Chief Minister has his fair share of supporters and detractors. That being said, there is no denying the fact that he is the most debated person across the nation. Be it his development model or divisive politics, Modi has become an unavoidable part of many a discussion.

Modi is the true politician of information age. The fact that he managed to guard information on his personal life from public, the missing link of his ‘wife’ being a case in point, goes only to show his power to manipulate information to serve his purpose.

He was the first politician to interact on Google hangout in Asia on 31 August 2012. Google hosts more than 3 crore related pages on Modi and of late, he slid past Sasi Tharoor as the most followed politician in India. He has a huge fan following on both facebook and twitter.

The expertise displayed in cultivating the media savvy image of Modi has leveraged his political mileage to a great extent. It seems he took a cue from the one liner from a Bond movie, “There's no news, like bad news”.

Here’s a brief sketch of Modi’s journey thus far:

• Narendra Modi was born on September 17,  1950
• Modi ran a tea stall with his brother in his teenage days.
• Modi became an RSS activist while he started to work in staff canteen of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation.
• After completing his RSS training in Nagpur, he was put in charge of ABVP.
• Modi has a Master's degree in political science from Gujarat University.
• Modi joined the party in 1987.
• Modi was made the General Secretary of BJP one year later.
• Modi played a key  role in the success of  the first Rath Yatra of  LK Advani in 1990.
• Saffron movement of 1995 under the aegis of Keshubhai patel established Modi as a chief strategist of BJP in Gujarat.
• In a short time, Modi spread his wings to carve a niche out for him in the national politics. He was made one of the General Secrataries of BJP and entrusted with the charge of the crucial states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the North-east.
• Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001, after he was backed by LK Advani and AB Vajpayee for the post.
• Modi’s alleged hand in 2002 Gujarat violence has resulted in his resignation as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
• Modi won 127 seats in the election that followed.
• Modi’s second term as Chief  Minister witnessed a shift in his strategy. He moved from identity politics to development politics.
• Modi upheld Gujarat as an investment friendly destination on his second term. His decision to drop VHP leader Praveen Togadia from cabinet and to demolish 200 illegal temples uncovered a different side of Modi.
• In 2005, Modi was denied a diplomatic visa to the United States on grounds of severe violation of religious freedom.
• In his third term (2007-2012) as the helmsman of Gujarat Modi stressed on an agrarian based policy.
• In April 2009, the Supreme Court of India appointed a Special Investigation Team to probe Narendra Modi's role in 2002 violence.
• In April 2012, the SIT absolved Modi of any involvement in the Gulbarg Society massacre of 2002.
• In 2012, Modi won with a majority of 86,373 votes to become the Chief Minister of Gujarat for the fourth consecutive term.
• LK Advani resigned after Modi was selected to head the poll campaign for 2014 parliamentary election. He later withdrew the resignation on RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat’s behest.
• On September 13 2013 he was declared as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Indian general elections.