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Narendra Modi

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Template:Totallydisputed Narendra Damodardas Modi (born September 17, 1950, Gujarat, India) is the Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat in India since October 7, 2001.

Modi is one of the most polarizing figures in Indian politics today - a forceful, Hindutva leader of principles to his admirers, and a fascist demagogue to his opponents.

Early Life and Political Career

He was born in Vadnagar, a town in the northern Mehsana district of Gujarat. As a young man, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a major public organization committed to Hindu Nationalism and a conservative and staunchly patriotic social and political outlook. Modi rose as a young prodigy within the RSS ranks.

Narendra Modi served as Pracharak, or a high-level regional organizer of the RSS. Joining the BJP in the mid-1980s, Modi worked to organize election campaigns in many states.

Rise in Gujarat

Together with Praveen Togadia, the leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, he masterminded the political takeover of Gujarat by the BJP in the mid-1990s. He built on a core discontent with the Indian National Congress. He held the important office of BJP General Secretary twice. He became Gujarat's Chief Minister in 2001, when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel resigned from office following the loss of 2 Assembly and 1 Lok Sabha by-elections, which was considered as a warning for the flagging popularity of the BJP administrations in Delhi and Gujarat.Modi's first months in office were focused on party efforts to get him officially elected to the state assembly within the six-month constitutional deadline for a non-elected person holding power. As a politician, his charisma helped him to build a popular base.

Gujarat Riots of 2002

Main article: 2002 Gujarat violence

In 2002, when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, violence took place in the state claiming several lives. While some refer to the violence as riots others refer to it as an anti-muslim pogrom. Official estimates state that 259 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed, with 200 more missing. Many human rights groups put the figure of total killed at beyond 2,000.

Subsequent reports from several independent human rights organisations have indicted Mr. Modi, claiming that he and his ministers instructed Gujarat's police officers not to obstruct the mobs. India's own National Human Rights Commission chastised 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 completely denied by Mr. Modi. The BJP and its supporters have attacked these reports as being politically motivated.

Elections in 2002 and 2004

Following the riots, Modi dissolved the state assembly in order to hold fresh elections. Narendra Modi campaigned intensely, conducting a state-wide Gaurav Yatra (Journey of Pride) that sought to invoke Gujarati pride. He won a massive mandate, winning 126 out of the 182 assembly seats.

Political Future

Gujarat has made gains under Modi's stweardship, clocking an impressive 15% economic growth rate per annum . The state has also won three international awards from its achievements. In late 2005, Modi's party has overwhelmingly won several local elections. Even Muslim-dominated neighborhoods voted for Modi. The biggest surprise was that in riot-hit Godhra, a group of independent Muslim councillors decided to extend support to the BJP in the city's municipal corporation.

As an administrator, Modi is regarded as a pro-reform, pro-business leader because of his policies which include lowering taxes. He has promoted business and industry, tax reform and cultivated a strong base of support from business sectors.

Gujarat textbook controversy

In September 2004, Modi came under fire, when the textbooks in Gujarat, the state that he was is the Chief Minister of, presented, what is considered by critics to be a "frighteningly uncritical picture of Fascism and Nazism".The Class X Social Studies textbook of Gujarat had chapters on 'Hitler, the Supremo' and 'Internal Achievements of Nazism'. The strong national pride that both these phenomena generated, the efficiency in the bureaucracy and the administration and other 'achievements' were detailed, but pogroms against Jews and atrocities against trade unionists, migrant labourers, and any section of people who did not fit into Mussolini or Hitler's definition of rightful citizen did not find any mention. "They committed the gruesome and inhuman act of suffocating 60 lakh Jews in gas chambers" was all the book, authored by a panel, mentioned of the holocaust.

The section on 'Ideology of Nazism' read : "Hitler lent dignity and prestige to the German government within a short time by establishing a strong administrative set up. He created the vast state of Greater Germany. He adopted the policy of opposition towards the Jewish people and advocated the supremacy of the German race. He adopted a new economic policy and brought prosperity to Germany.

He began efforts for the eradication of unemployment. He started constructing public buildings, providing irrigation facilities, building railways, roads and production of war materials. He made untiring efforts to make Germany self-reliant within one decade. Hitler discarded the Treaty of Versailles by calling it just 'a piece of paper' and stopped paying the war penalty. He instilled the spirit of adventure in the common people" ()

In March 2005, John Conyers Jr, a Democrat Congressman from Michigan, moved a resolution against Modi stating, "The US State Department has discussed the role of Modi and his government in promoting attitudes of racial supremacy, racial hatred, and the legacy of Nazism through his government's support of school textbooks in which Nazism is glorified." ()

However,despite the controversy he has still maintained his popularity in Gujarat, which was proved in the elections Oct/Nov 2005 held for 209 Taluka Panchayats in Gujarat, BJP(his party) has won 136 while Congress won 70 Panchayats. Also his party(BJP) won Ahmedabad Muncipal Corporation election with majority and now rules Ahmedaba

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