The Second Longest Serving Prime Minister of India-Narendra Modiji

Photo Credit: VBLUBEN

On the 17th of July, last our Prime Minister Sri. Narendra Modiji completed 4078 days in power creating a unique record of being the second longest serving Prime Minister in the history of the country. Elected in 2014, he has continuously, without a break, been serving the country from the chair. The election victory in 2014, after an arduous campaign put him in power winning 284 seats with a comfortable majority. Since then, the country has changed a lot. The iron-fisted rule not only provided a pro-active government at the centre but also brought about drastic, revolutionary changes in the laws, institutional setup and arrangements as well as formed a new debate on culture, polity and politics. The issues on public debate are no longer the same. Aggressive, uncouth and strict rule based on public unity, duty and development - defined in a new form - is the order of the day. After three consecutive wins in the parliamentary elections, his administration has become more imbibing and comprehensive in bringing the nation under one rhythm and tune of Indianness, historical pride as well as a promising future. On the plank of Viksit Bharat, the new model of an inclusive, advanced and a modern nation of self-pride is thus endeavored. Riding on high popularity and teamwork, he has been successful in implementing his programmes, policies for the progress, modernization in all spheres of development of the country.

He first served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for 13 years guiding the state from the reconstruction and rebuilding after the devastating Bhuj earthquakes in 2001. His tenure was a remarkable one. Marked by a new model of governance - often epitomized - as the best model of development, he set new milestones in governance. He organized festivals like Vibrant Gujarat, encouraged private investments, rural electrification, encouraged water conservation projects, Tata Nano car projects, FDI investments, tax breaks for businesses, SEZs etc. However, the Gujarat riots in 2002, discrepancies in the development model owing to lower poverty relief measures, lower nutrition benefits, less development in education, low human development index, bad ranking in the State Hunger Index, poor immunization were the weak points. Nonetheless, owing to criticism of bad governance, corruption and less action on terrorism related matters, the BJP led NDA, put out a firm opposition to the then UPA government at the centre in the 2014 general elections. Modiji was elected the Prime Ministerial candidate in the tumultuous period and after an arduous campaign, his Party won a full majority in the Lok Sabha. Consequently, he was sworn in on the 26th of May 2014 as the 14th Prime Minister of India. Since then, a slew of programmes, policies and hard decisions have been taken. The first was the law on Black Money, to identify, confiscate and take punitive action on the perpetrators of black money. Later on, severe laws on Terrorism were enacted. The Demonetization in 2016 i.e. to abolish the ₹500 and ₹1000 notes then, suddenly at midnight and stringent laws on banking transactions were put in place, much to the surprise of all. On the other hand, terrorist attacks in the J&K state were severely dealt with resulting in surgical strikes across the border with Pakistan, the Balakot strikes and subsequently many treaties with the neighboring country were put in abeyance. Despite this, the BJP led NDA came out successfully in the 2019 general elections to the Lok Sabha five years later. This time, the BJP alone had a comfortable majority with 303 seats and the NDA a total of 343 seats. This time he came up with more drastic policies and programmes. Soon after being elected, in August 2019, the government revoked the Article 370 of the Constitution giving special powers to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and created the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh. He passed the CAA act granting easy citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan to escape religious persecution. Three controversial Farm laws were passed by the Parliament resulting in massive farmer protests, leading to around 800 farmer's deaths and ultimately the withdrawal of the laws. Alongside that, the COVID-19 pandemic appeared which made the government announce nationwide lockdowns closing transport, air, train services, schools, colleges, markets, malls, hotels and restaurants etc. and provide for the treatment, safety and vaccinations of the people from the deadly virus. In 2024, the Lok Sabha elections were held for which he was made the Prime Ministerial candidate of the NDA for the third time. The BJP and the NDA won this time too but with a reduced margin. The BJP secured only 240 seats a little short of the simple majority. Nonetheless, the NDA government was formed with Modiji at the helm again. This time the government was less stern. Elections to J&K were held. The government announced a massive cut in the Income Tax slabs that enabled people having income up to ₹7.75 lacs to go tax free. The Angel tax levied on investments to startups was abolished. TDS was reduced in a lot of cases. Defence expenditure was largely increased. More so, in early 2025 a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam in J&K led to action at the Pakistan border that resulted in the Operation Sindoor with Pakistan attacking with drones all along the western border and India retaliating with missile and air strikes in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur and other places there. A ceasefire was ultimately announced to prevent further escalation. Till today, he has been leading astutely across all issues in a pro-active, aggressive and decisive manner. He has received several criticisms during his tenure with allegations of curtailing the Freedom of Speech, civil liberties, rampant economic inequalities, heightened communal divide, severe economic burdens, a cumbersome and complex GST, ethnic violence in Manipur, unemployment, nepotism and hypocrisy. Nevertheless, he has been providing a pro-active leadership (working 18 hours a day) and a fan-following, bhakts to carry out his vision.

Our country has seen such a leader of dynamism and spirit after a long-time having similarities to that of Smt. Indira Gandhiji whose tenure he surpassed. Although, both won elections several times, Modiji is a class of his own. His greater than life image, worshipped by many, has had a permanent impact on the lives of all Indians young, old, rich, poor, educated, illiterate etc. He has been honoured with globally as well as in the country starting from the highest civilian awards of Russia, Nigeria, Kuwait, Bhutan, Mauritius etc. He has been voted as the 100 Most Influential people of the world by the Time magazine, and many others. With a large part of his third term remaining, it would be worth seeing if he can make a long-lasting impression with his values, programmes, policies or vision in the future.