Narendra Damodardass Modi was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of the country on Monday.
The oath of office and secrecy to Modi was administered by President Pranab Mukherjee. He took his oath in Hindi.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by several world leaders including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
Heads of Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Mauritius were also present at the swearing-in ceremony.
The swearing-in ceremony was also attended by a host of Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Vivek Oberoi, Dharmendra.
Outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi, besides leaders of various other parties and chief ministers of a number of states were also present at the swearing-in ceremony.
Born to Hiraba and Damodardas Modi in Vadnagar in Gujarat' s Mehsana District, on September 17, 1950, the web site informs that younger Narender left home in 1967 to travel across India, including the Himalayas, Rishikesh, the Northeast and a visit to the Ramakrishna Mission. This was two years after the India-Pakistan War, when he served tea at the Mehsana Railway Station to soldiers who were then going and coming from the border.
His web site then informs that he decides to join the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1972, and takes a conscious decision to devote his life to serving the nation.
In 1974, he is an active participant in the Navnirman Movement, a youth movement against corruption in Gujarat.
With the imposition of emergency in 1975, Modi spends the next three years involved in an anti-emergency struggle. And joins the Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti (GLSS), a movement to restore democracy. In 1978, the RSS appoints him as "Vibhag Pracharak" in Vadodara and Central Gujarat.
Shortly after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is formed in 1980, Modi is promoted to 'Sambhag Pracharak' and given additional charge of South Gujarat and Surat as focus areas.
Playing a significant and instrumental role in ensuring the BJP's first win in the Ahmedabad Muncipal Corporation elections in 1987, Modi simultaneosuly joins the BJP"s Gujarat unit as its Organisation Secretary in February-March of the same year.
In 1989, he takes part in the Nyay Yatra and the Lok Shakti Yatra tio fight for the rights of the poor, and at the same time aaactively take part in preparations for the 1989 general elections.
In March 1990, the BJP wins 67 seats in Gujarat Vidhan Sabha elections and joins the Chimanbhai Patel government as an alliance partner. In September of the same year, Modi is an integral part of the organisation of the Somnath-Ayodya Yatra undertaken by L.K.Advani. A year later he takes part in the Ekta Yatra led by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
In March 1995, Modi as organisation secretrary, helps the Gujarat unit of the BJP to secure a majority in state assembly elections with 121 seats. In october 1995, he moves to Delhi as National Secretary and is given n charge of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
In 1998, he becomes National General Secretary (Organisation), which is a prestigious party post held in the past by stalwarts like Kushabhau Thakre and Sunder Singh Bhandari. As a BJP general secretary, he plays an active role in helping the BJP to win general elections in 1999.
On October 7, 2001, he is sworn as the chief minister of Gujarat and leads the party to record win in the December 2002 state assembly elections.
Under his leadership, the First biennial Vibrant Gujarat Investors Summit is inaugurated by L.K. Advani on September 28, 2003. In November, 2006, he launches the "Jyotigram Yojana" is a path breaking initiative to provide 24/7, 3-phase power supply to the people of Gujarat.
He becomes the longest serving chief minister of Gujarat in 2007, and thereafter wins two more five-year terms.The BJp than announces him as its prime ministerial candidate on september 13, 2013, and as they the rest is history.
