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Narendra Damodardas Modi is the prime minister-designate of India, due to be sworn in on 26 May. He led the BJP into the 2014 general election, winning the second-largest majority in the history of the Lok Sabha.
A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Modi courted controversy in India and abroad for the incidents surrounding the 2002 Gujarat riots. He has been praised for his economic policies, which are credited with creating an environment for a high rate of economic growth in Gujarat.
However, his administration has also been criticised for failing to make a significant positive impact upon the human development of the state.
The son of a tea-stall owner, Modi's journey into politics started young. He joined the RSS during his teens and became a member of the BJP in 1987. His first stint as chief minister of Gujarat began in October 2001, when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel resigned following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. In 2012, Modi performed a hat-trick, retaining power for the third time in Gujarat and becoming its longest-serving chief minister.
In the 2014 general elections, Modi won from both the seats he contested. He defeated Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, in Varanasi and Madhusudan Mistry of the Congress in Vadodara.
He steered the BJP-led NDA to a decisive victory in the general elections in which the ruling Indian National Congress suffered its worst ever defeat. Modi was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP parliamentary party following his party's victory in the 2014 elections and was subsequently appointed the prime minister by President Pranab Mukherjee.
He is to be sworn in as the country's 15th prime minister on 26 May 2014, at 6.00 pm, at the Rastrapati Bhavan. He will be the first prime minister born after the country's independence.
