Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chief Minister of Gujarat | |
| Constituency | Maninagar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 17, 1950 Vadnagar, Mehsana district |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Residence(s) | Gandhinagar, Gujarat |
As of June 18, 2006 Source: Government of Gujarat | |
Narendra Damodardas Modi (Devanagari: नरेंद्र दामोदरदास मोदी) was born on September 17, 1950, Gujarat, India. He became the Chief Minister of Gujarat on October 7, 2001.
He was born in Vadnagar, a town in the northern Mehsana district of Gujarat, to a middle-class Hindu family. As a young man, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He became a fulltime worker and organiser for it, and was later nominated by it to be a representative on the Bharatiya Janata Party.[1]
He participated in the rise to political dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat as its elections organiser in the early 1990s, a period which led to its election in 1995. He became Gujarat's Chief Minister in 2001, promoted to that office when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel resigned, following the defeat of the BJP in by-elections.
He won re-election in December 2002 as chief minister with 126 seats in the 182-member assembly. Despite his popularity with the wider Gujarati electorate, he remains a controversial figure and extremely unpopular with minority communities. [2]
Biography
He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the year 1974 and was involved in an anti-corruption movement— the Navnirmaan Andolan.[3] He joined the Bhartiya Janta Party in the early 1980s. He helped maintain the relations between the RSS and the BJP. In the year 1988 he became the General Sectretary of the State BJP unit. The 52 year leader is believed to be the favorite protege of Lal Krishna Advani, who is a senior leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party himself.
He was believed to be a back-room operator for the political party in the beginning, but during the elections he potrayed himself as a pro-Hindu leader and campaigned on a platform of Hindutva. His anti minority agendas are mired in controversy.
Gujarat riots of 2002
In February 2002, when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, violence took place in the state claiming hundreds of lives. While some refer to the violence as riots others refer to it as an anti-Muslim pogrom by disgruntled masses. An official estimate states that 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed, with 223 more missing. Many human rights groups put the figure of total killed at a higher number.[4] The riots followed the Godhra incident, where 59 Hindu pilgrims were targetted and burnt alive on a train by a Muslim mob.
The National Human Rights Commission criticised the government, pointing to "a comprehensive failure on the part of the State Government of Gujarat to control persistent violations of rights
These claims have been rejected by Modi, and the BJP and its supporters have attacked the reports as being politically motivated. A judicial commission constituted to examine allegations of Gujarat state administration's involvement in the riots of 2002 has twice so far said that there was no evidence "as yet" to implicate either Modi or his administration in the riots.[5][6]
As an aftermath to the riots, there were calls for Modi to resign as chief minister of Gujarat. The opposition parties stalled the national parliament over the issue. Even allies of the BJP like DMK and TDP were asking for Modi's resignation[7]. Modi submitted his resignation to the Governor, Mr. Sundar Singh Bhandari, only after three months when he called for fresh elections and recommended the dissolution of the 10th Gujarat Legislative Assembly[8]. In the subsequent elections, the BJP, led by Modi, won the elections by a huge margin.
Visa controversy
Narendra Modi applied for a diplomatic visa to visit the United States of America, to attend meetings organised by the Asian-American Hotel Owner's Association (AAHOA) on March 20, 2005. The visit was not official, but a private one at the request of the association. A campaign against the visit was launched by some US Congressmen. The Bush administration declined to grant him a visa, mainly because of the alleged violations of religious freedom, under the US Immigration and Nationality Act and the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The visit did not meet the criterion of a diplomatic visit either[citation needed]. Modi said that the US had "insulted" India by revoking his visa.[9] The matter resulted in the Indian government lodging a protest with the United States for denial of the visa.[10]
References
- ^ "Biography - Narendra Modi". Retrieved April 14.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Chief Minister of Gujarat". Official Portal of the Government of Gujarat. 2005. Retrieved April 14.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Biography Narendra Modi". Retrieved April 15.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Gujarat riot death toll revealed". BBC News. 2005. Retrieved April 15.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Gujarat Riots - No evidence against administration". The Hindu. 2003. Retrieved April 15.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "No proof against Modi - as yet". The Hindu. 2006. Retrieved April 15.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Gujarat Cabinet puts off decision on elections". The Tribune. 2002. Retrieved May 9.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Modi resigns; seeks Assembly dissolution". The Hindu. 2002. Retrieved May 9.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "India condemns US decision". BBC News. 2005. Retrieved April 15.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "America denies visa to Narendra Modi". Indian Express. 2006. Retrieved April 15.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)