PM Modi turns 69: A timeline of his political career

Narendra Damodardas Modi was the first prime minister to be born in independent India -- on September 17, 1950 -- at Vadnagar, a small town in Mehsana district of North Gujarat. As he celebrates his 69th birthday on Tuesday, let's look at some of the milestones he crossed in his political career:

1965: PM Narendra Modi began his political career as the Kankaria ward secretary of the Jan Sangh in 1965 in Ahmedabad.

1972: Narendra Modi joined the pro-Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and set up a unit of the RSS’s students’ wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. During his period there, he led the Navnirman anti-corruption agitation in 1974. He was also appointed as general secretary of an RSS committee - Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti - coordinating opposition to the Emergency in Gujarat.

1987: Modi entered mainstream politics joining BJP in 1987, and was promoted as the General Secretary of the Gujarat unit within a year. He was also a prt of the coalition government BJP had formed for a brief period in 1990. He organised the Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra of the then BJP chief L K Advani and the march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, between 1988 and 1995.

1995: BJP came to power individually in Gujarat in 1995 and has its stronghold there ever since. Modi was appointed as the National Secretary of the party then. He was elevated to the post of General Secretary in 1998, and held the position till 2001.

2001: Probably the biggest shift to power for the BJP leader was when he was chosen to replace Gujarat's then Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel in 2001 since the latter's health was deteriorating. He was appointed by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Modi had previously refused to be the deputy chief minister.

Modi swore in as the chief minister on October 7, 2001. He was elected to power in a by-poll on February 24, 2002.

2002: On February 27, 2002, a train, carrying Hindu pilgrims travelling from Ayodhya after performing a ceremony at the demolished Babri Masjid site, was set ablaze in Godhra. The fire killed hundreds of both Hindus and Muslims. Cases were filed against Modi over his alleged personal involvement in the incident. They were later closed by the Supreme Court as a Special Investigation Team (SIT) sited lack of evidence.
The United Kingdom criticised his role in the riots in 2002, and Modi was even denied a diplomatic visa by the United States of America in 2005 citing his alleged involvement.

2002-2012: Narendra Modi had taken the Gujarat elections by a landslide with 127 of the 182 seats in the December 2002 Legislative Assembly elections, 117 in 20017 and 115 in 2012. He was lauded for his development model, with industries and business booming in Gujarat and also its economic development during his tenure as CM.

2014: Modi established himself as a prime ministerial candidate by 2014 General Elections. He even won a Time magazine reader’s poll and was voted the person of the year in 2014. He did have in-party opposition, especially from LK Advani, against his candidature.
With "Ab ki bar Modi Sarkar" as the slogan, BJP campaigned far and wide for Modi. BJP eventually became the first party to win majority number of seats of 282 in the Lok Sabha polls, with Modi himself winning in both his constituencies - Vadodara and Varanasi.

2014-2019: Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to multiple countries to build socio-economic relations. In 2015, he made a surprise visit to Pakistan and met the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel.
He brought grand economic reforms such as the banning of all Rs 500 and 1000 notes on November 8, 2016, and the introduction of 'one nation, one tax' concept with GST on July 1, 2017.

2019: The 2019 general elections were once again in favour of 'Modi sarkar' as the NDA coalition had won a whopping 353 seats in the 543-member Parliament. Modi had also won his Varanasi constituency. Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of India for the second term in the presence of some 800 delegates from India and abroad on May 30, 2019.
The abrogation of Article 370, criminalisation of Triple Talaq rule and the anti-terror law were a few of the changes that were implemented within the first 100 days of his tenure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, visited the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue, which was inaugurated by him on October 31, 2018.