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Explainer | Who is India PM Narendra Modi and why is he so popular?
- After riding a tsunami of support to re-election in 2019’s polls, the bearded 69-year-old is by far the most powerful Indian politician in a generation
- He is not without his critics, however – especially for his government’s Hindu-nationalist policies and treatment of the country’s Muslim minority
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have ruled India ever since 2014, when he thundered to victory in the country’s most resounding election success in three decades.
The bearded 69-year-old rode another tsunami of support to a second five-year term in 2019 – surprising many observers who had thought the election would be much closer than it was. His success has hobbled the long-dominant Congress party and made Modi, by far, the most powerful politician in India for a generation
Who is Narendra Modi?
Narendra Damodardas Modi was born in Vadnagar – a town of around 30,000 people with links to the ancient Indian Anarta kingdom – in the present-day state of Gujarat on September 17, 1950. As a youth he worked on his poor Hindu family’s tea stall, according to his biography, and was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from an early age. The RSS, with its heavy emphasis on paramilitary drills, Hindu prayers and personal sacrifice, has been described as the ideological fountainhead of the BJP.
Modi talks proudly of his humble beginnings, growing up without running water or electric lights – yet he now has more than US$335,000 in assets, according to a mandatory filing before contesting last year’s parliamentary polls.
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