Narendra Modi's Biography

Narendra Modi's Biography

The beginnings

Narendra Damodardas Modi was born on September 17, 1950, at Vadnagar in Gujarat's Mehsana district.
He is the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife Heeraben.
The Modis' was a lower middle-class household. His father sold tea at the local railway station, helped by a young NaMo. His mother worked as a domestic help.
His initiation into the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was reportedly incidental and not the result of any specific plan. According to his biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, as a child he began attending bal shakhas, training workshops for children, and soon took a fancy to its "disciplined" structure.
At the age of 12, Mukhopadhyay says, Modi would go to the local railway station to meet soldiers heading for the Sino-Indian border for the war.
Modi reportedly flirted with the idea of becoming a sanyasi, and joining the Ramakrishna Mission after staying briefly at its headquarters in Belur. Not a graduate, he was rejected admission.
At 17, he was made to marry Jashodaben. He took off soon after for the Himalayas on a spiritual journey. Since then he has only returned home for brief spells.

Education:

According to Modi's poll affidavit, he did his graduation from Delhi University and MA (Political Science) from Gujarat University.

Political career:

Joined the RSS as a pracharak in the 1970s.
Participated in the anti-Emergency movement in 1977.
Narendra Modi's innings in active politics began at the age of 37, when he joined the BJP in 1987.
Within one year, he was made the general secretary of the Gujarat unit.
He is credited with playing a major role in helping the BJP establish a base in Gujarat and bringing about its first victory in the state in 1995.
Amid grumbles in the state unit that Modi was acting as the 'Super CM', he was shifted out of Gujarat to take on a party post at the national level.
He was made the BJP national secretary in1995. During the 1996 General Elections, he was entrusted with leading the party's campaign in Himachal, Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana In 1998, he was given the responsibility of general secretary (organisation).
Three years later, the party made him the CM after Keshubhai Patel's resignation over the BJP's defeat in bypolls for two seats. Massive Hindu-Muslim riots broke out in the state the next year. In their wake, Modi was accused of not doing anything to rein in the violence and, by a few, of even being complicit in the violence primarily directed at Muslims.
A political pariah in the aftermath of 2002, Modi was denied a visa by the US in 2005 for "violating" the tenets of religious freedom.
In October 2008, Modi convinced Tata Motors to move its Nano factory from West Bengal -- rocked by farmer protests over land compensation - to Gujarat.
In October 2012, Modi got another boost when British High Commissioner James Bevan calls on him for a meeting, which signaled the West's growing acceptance of him.
In December 2012, he won a record third term as Gujarat CM. In a sign of his national ambitions, he made his victory speech in Hindi not Gujarati.
Amid strengthening signs of his growing clout, Modi lunched with EU ambassadors in February 2013.
In September 2013, the BJP anointed him its PM candidate.
A landmark moment in February this year saw the then US Ambassador Nancy Powell meet Modi in Gandhinagar, a sign of the US beginning to warm up to the Gujarat CM.
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