3.5 Mr. Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi was born on 17th September 1950 in a small town of Vadnagar in Mehsana district in North Gujarat in India.
Narendra Modi completed his schooling in Vadnagar and did his masters degree in Political Science from Gujarat University. Even as a boy he was interested in social services. During the Indo-Pak war in early sixties, he went to help the soldjers in transit in railway stations. In 1967 he offered voluntary services to the people affected in Narmada Tapti floods. He continued serving the victims of major disasters in various parts of the country in his student and adult life.
Narendra Modi's abilities and leadership qualities were seen in the early days of his student life when he became the student leader of Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (All India Students Council). He played a prominent role in the anticorruption movement in 1974 in Gujarat.
He entered politics in 1987 by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. Within a year, he was elevated to the level of General Secretary of the Gujarat unit of the party. In 1995 he was made the National Secretary of the party in-charge of five major states in India – a rare distinction. He traveled extensively through out the world, which helped him to develop a global perspective.
After carving a niche for himself in the national politics as a master strategist, he took over as the Chief Minister of Gujarat on 7th October 2001.
Mr Narendra Modi has, during the first three years of his tenure (October 2001 to December 2004) as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, successfully reduced the fiscal deficit of the state by fifty per cent and has slashed the losses of the huge public utility (Gujarat Electricity Board), besides making available electricity for domestic consumption in over 5,000 villages. His government has been successful raising of the height of the crucial Narmada Dam from 95 to 110.64 metre in two quick bursts of activity, which lasted about two months each. The increased height has resulted in waters flowing to all parts of the state and commissioning of the hydro-electric power generation facility at the dam. Having put the economy back on an even keel in a short period of three years, the government today has reason to feel sanguine about its performance.
In December 2002, elections the Narendra Modi government was voted back to power with a massive majority of 128 in a house of 182. On December 22, 2002, he was sworn-in as the chief minister of Gujarat for the second time.
Mr Narendra Modi is one of the most easily accessible political leaders in India. A leader who believes in team-work, Mr Modi has launched an ambitious training programme for the 500,000 government employees in Gujarat which is being watched in awe by every other state and is in for replication through out the nation. A true Karmayogi (doer), Mr Modi refuses to be cowed down by disasters and disturbances and is successfully leading his state on the path to economic growth.