The breathtaking rise of Narendra Modi to India’s Prime Minister

The fact that he is now completing his third term in office and is an internationally respected negotiating partner is thanks to his early engagement with the Hindu nationalists and their support, as well as the importance of India as the most populous country in the world. Modi is visiting Austria on Tuesday and Wednesday.

• 17 September 1950 – Narendra Modi was born three years after India gained independence from Great Britain in the town of Vadnagar in the north-western state of Gujarat. He was the third of six children. His father owned a tea stall at the railway station and his mother was a dishwasher.
• Childhood and school years – Modi is a mediocre student, but a good speaker and debater. From the age of eight he is active in the paramilitary, extremist Hindu organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). At the age of 13 he finds himself in an arranged child marriage.
• 1967 – Modi finishes school.
• 1972 – Full-time work for the RSS. In order to rise up the ranks of the Hindu nationalists, Modi left his wife because leadership cadres are expected to lead a life of abstinence. The marriage formally continues to this day, although Modi has had no contact with his wife for decades. To this day, Modi lives a life of asceticism: he is a vegetarian, does not consume alcohol or tobacco, and does yoga.
• 1975-77 – Time of emergency in the dispute over electoral irregularities: As a senior official of the RSS student organization and leading agitator against the ruling Congress Party under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Modi goes underground.
• 1979 – Modi completes a distance learning course at the University of Delhi: Bachelor of Political Science.
• 1980 – The political arm of the RSS, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which fights for Hindu supremacy in what is essentially secular India, is founded as a party.
• 1983 – Master’s degree from Gujarat University.
• 1985 – As the BJP rises, Modi joins the party.
• 1988 – Modi becomes general secretary of BJP in Gujarat.
• 1990 – The BJP becomes the second strongest force in Gujarat and enters a coalition government as a junior partner, but the government falls apart.
• 1995 – BJP wins election in Gujarat: Two-thirds majority in the state. Modi receives great recognition for this.
• 1998 – Modi becomes BJP general secretary at the national level.
• 2001 – Modi becomes Prime Minister of Gujarat after criticising the BJP government there and its resignation due to corruption and mismanagement following a disastrous earthquake that left 20,000 dead and 200,000 injured.
• 2002 – After an attack on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims in Gujarat that left dozens dead, there were violent excesses against Muslims that left hundreds dead. Modi’s role in the pogroms is still unclear. It is clear that the security forces often looked the other way and let the Hindu mob do as they pleased. The USA and the EU declared Modi persona non grata. He resigned, but was re-elected. To date, he has never expressed regret about the events.
• 2007 – Modi re-elected as Chief Minister of Gujarat.
• 2012 – Modi re-elected as Chief Minister of Gujarat.
• 2013 – The EU lifts the travel ban against Modi.
• 2014 – Modi is the BJP’s top candidate in the national parliamentary elections. He wins the election with a reputation as an economic reformer and an anti-Muslim hardliner even within the party. The defeated government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress Party had to contend with weak growth rates, rising prices and massive corruption allegations. The BJP wins an absolute majority in parliament. For the first time in decades, a party can govern alone in India. Modi is counting on a reduction in government size, budget consolidation, infrastructure projects and an easing of relations with arch-enemy Pakistan and China in order to improve India’s economic situation. The USA also lifts the travel ban and Modi is received by US President Barack Obama in the White House.
• 2015 – Obama’s return visit to Modi. Modi visits Germany, China and Russia. Modi takes part in summits of the BRICS countries and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
• 2016 – Modi travels to the USA for the third time since taking office as Indian Prime Minister: speech to Congress. Modi has been fully rehabilitated on the international stage and is a sought-after partner.
• 2019 – The BJP is re-elected with an absolute majority, Modi remains Prime Minister.
• 2020/21 – Modi wants to liberalize the agricultural markets. After persistent protests by farmers, he has to reverse the reform.
• 2024 – The BJP wins its third consecutive election victory with Modi. However, it loses its absolute majority and continues to govern with a coalition partner.

During the election campaign, he once again put Hindu nationalism at the forefront of his campaign and in January took a leading role in the inauguration of the controversial Hindu temple in the city of Ayodhya. The newly built shrine was built on the site of the Babri Masjid mosque, which was destroyed in 1992 by a Hindu mob led by the BJP. The attack sparked serious clashes between Hindus and Muslims across the country, in which more than 2,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims. The government had also introduced a controversial citizenship law that speeds up naturalization but excludes Muslim migrants from neighboring countries.

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