Modi, Narendra Damodardas [key], 1950–, Indian politician. A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing, paramilitary Hindu nationalist group and then, from 1987, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), he rose to prominence in his native Gujarat, serving as BJP general secretary for Gujarat (1988–95); he subsequently became BJP national secretary (1995–98) and general secretary (1998–2001). In 2001 he was appointed chief minister for Gujarat; the next year the Gujarat BJP was accused of responding inadequately to and sometimes condoning deadly anti-Muslim riots there. Modi resigned and new elections were called; the BJP subsequently won, and won again in 2007 and 2012. Modi's government emphasized Gujarat's economic development. In 2013 he became the BJP's prime-ministerial candidate for the 2014 national elections, and the became prime minister after the BJP and its allies won control of parliament. Modi's tenure as prime minister was marked by 2018 by a return to populist and protectionist economic policies favored by farmers and merchants aligned with the BJP, while his governing style was seen as increasingly centralized and autocratic, often challenging the independence of nonpolitical government institutions. In the 2019 parliamentary elections, he led the BJP and its allies to an increased majority, and his subsequent decision to revoke Kashmir's autonomy and other events contributed to a sense among Muslims that they were becoming second-class citizens.
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