“For me, development gives strongest foundation to the secularism.”
2008, Speech, 14 January 2008
Narendra Damodardas Modi pronounced [ˈnəɾeːndrə daːmoːdəɾˈdaːs ˈmoːdiː] ; born 17 September 1950 is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014, and is the Member of Parliament for Varanasi. Modi is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh .
Born to a Gujarati family in Vadnagar, Modi helped his father sell tea as a child and later ran his own stall. He was introduced to the RSS at the age of eight, beginning a long association with the organisation. He left home after graduating from school, partly because of an arranged marriage which he rejected. Modi travelled around India for two years and visited a number of religious centres. He returned to Gujarat and moved to Ahmedabad in 1969 or 1970. In 1971 he became a full-time worker for the RSS. During the state of emergency imposed across the country in 1975, Modi was forced to go into hiding. The RSS assigned him to the BJP in 1985, and he held several positions within the party hierarchy until 2001, rising to the rank of General Secretary.
Modi was appointed Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001, due to Keshubhai Patel's failing health and poor public image following the earthquake in Bhuj. Modi was elected to the legislative assembly soon after. His administration has been considered complicit in the 2002 Gujarat riots, or otherwise criticised for its handling of it, however a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team found no evidence to initiate prosecution proceedings. His policies as chief minister, credited with encouraging economic growth, have received praise. His administration has been criticised for failing to significantly improve health, poverty, and education indices in the state.Modi led the BJP in the 2014 general election, which gave the party a majority in the Lok Sabha, the first time a single party had achieved this since 1984. Modi himself was elected to parliament from Varanasi. Since taking office, Modi's administration has tried to raise foreign direct investment in the Indian economy, increased spending on infrastructure, and reduced spending on healthcare and social welfare programmes. Modi has attempted to improve efficiency in the bureaucracy, and centralised power by abolishing the planning commission and replacing it with the NITI Aayog. He has begun a high-profile sanitation campaign, and weakened or abolished environmental and labour laws. Credited with engineering a political realignment towards right-wing politics, Modi remains a figure of controversy domestically and internationally over his Hindu nationalist beliefs and his role during the 2002 Gujarat riots, cited as evidence of an exclusionary social agenda.

“For me, development gives strongest foundation to the secularism.”
2008, Speech, 14 January 2008
2013, "Satyameva Jayate: Truth Alone Triumphs", 2013
2014, "GhoshanaPatra with Narendra Modi", 2014
Narendra Modi quoted from Kishwar, Madhu (2014). Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. p.381-386
2013
Source: 2014, "GhoshanaPatra with Narendra Modi", 2014
Narendra Modi, Swarajya Interviews Prime Minister Modi, Interview, R Jagannathan- Jul 02, 2018 https://swarajyamag.com/economy/swarajya-interviews-prime-minister-modi-the-state-of-indian-economy <br class="br">2018
Narendra Modi in interview 2013, quoted from Kishwar, Madhu (2014). Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. p.164
2013
Narendra Modi in interview, 2013, p75, quoted in Kishwar, Madhu (2014). Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. p.75
2013
“If the media would not have worked to malign Modi, who would know Modi today?”
2014, "'I was not silent on Gujarat riots,' says Modi", 2014
2008, Speech, 14 January 2008
2009, "The nation is waiting for a strong, experienced leader", 2009
2009, "The nation is waiting for a strong, experienced leader", 2009
2002, Modi election campaign speech, 2002
This has the [sic] started!
2008, Speech, 14 January 2008
2009, "The nation is waiting for a strong, experienced leader", 2009
2013, "Satyameva Jayate: Truth Alone Triumphs", 2013
Interview with media outlet, quoted by First Post, "People don't vote me to power to take revenge: Modi" http://www.firstpost.com/politics/people-dont-vote-me-to-power-to-take-revenge-modi-1483319.html (16 April 2014). <br class="br">2014
2014, "Election results 2014 LIVE: Vadodara goes wild as hero Modi arrives", 2014
2002, "When select phrases are lifted and distorted out of context", 2002
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2007, "Modi walks out of TV interview after being quizzed on riots", 2007
2008, Speech, 14 January 2008
2002, "When select phrases are lifted and distorted out of context", 2002
2014, "Narendra Modi on the Role of NDTV during the 2002 Riots", 2014
Cited in: Caroline Sweetman (2005) Gender, Peacebuilding, and Reconstruction. p. 94
2002, "When select phrases are lifted and distorted out of context", 2002
Narendra Modi on December 1, 2001, quoted in Kishwar, Madhu (2014). Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. p.177
2001
2014, "Read full interview of Narendra Modi to Rajat Sharma", 2014
.
2014, "'I was not silent on Gujarat riots,' says Modi", 2014
2014, "Election results 2014 LIVE: 'The era of divisive politics is over', says Modi in Ahmedabad", 2014
“Let us serve Gujarat by maintaining shanti and sanyam. Let us strengthen the arms of law.”
2002, "When select phrases are lifted and distorted out of context", 2002
2014, "Election results 2014 LIVE: Vadodara goes wild as hero Modi arrives", 2014
2014 <br class="br">Source: Rally in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, quoted by First Post, "Modi welcomes Paswan to NDA: 'National Development Alliance'" http://www.firstpost.com/politics/modi-welcomes-paswan-to-nda-national-development-alliance-1416863.html (3 March 2014).
Interview to NDTV broadcast on March 20, 2004, Narendra Modi said to Shekhar Gupta. quoted in Madhu Purnima Kishwar: Modi, Muslims and Media. Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014.
2004
February 20, 2002 The Sanjh Times quoted in Madhu Purnima Kishwar: Modi, Muslims and Media. Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014.
2002
Narendra Modi, quoted in Vivek Agnihotri - Urban Naxals The Making of Buddha in a Traffic Jam (2018, Garuda Prakashan)
2018
2019, "2014 was a mandate for hope and aspiration, 2019 is about confidence and acceleration", 2019
2019, "2014 was a mandate for hope and aspiration, 2019 is about confidence and acceleration", 2019
2019, "2014 was a mandate for hope and aspiration, 2019 is about confidence and acceleration", 2019
Quoted in Bear Grylls impressed with Modi’s 'humility'; says PM calm during crisis, agreed to sit in homemade raft https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/bear-grylls-impressed-with-modis-humility-says-pm-calm-during-crisis-agreed-to-sit-in-homemade-raft/articleshow/70615908.cms Bear Grylls <br class="br">2019
May 2019. Quoted from BJP workers killed in Bengal for their ideology https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/bjp-workers-killed-in-bengal-for-their-ideology-says-pm-modi-tmc-calls-allegation-baseless/articleshow/69525655.cms Times of India <br class="br">2019
Narendra Modi quoted in BJP Lives And Breathes Democracy Despite Facing Political Untouchability And Violence’: PM Modi In Varanasi https://swarajyamag.com/insta/bjp-lives-and-breathes-democracy-despite-facing-political-untouchability-and-violence-pm-modi-in-varanasi NDTV https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/after-mega-victory-pm-narendra-modi-says-the-bjp-suffered-political-untouchability-violence-2043561 <br class="br">2019
( Source http://www.narendramodi.in/category/quotes/). <br class="br">2012
“I have the ability to pick stones thrown at me to build a staircase to climb up.”
Quoted from Lok Sabha Election Results 2019: Rise and rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi https://indianexpress.com/article/india/narendra-modi-lok-sabha-elections-2019-result-bjp-congress-seats-counting-5745459/
“I won’t bother to offer explanations because the media is determined to distort all I say.”
quoted in Madhu Purnima Kishwar: Modi, Muslims and Media. Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014.
2014
“Participation of all, for the development of all.”
Modi has repeatedly reiterated that his primary motto is “sabka saath, sabka vikas.” (Participation of all, for the development of all). Madhu Purnima Kishwar: Modi, Muslims and Media. Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014.
2020 <br class="br">Source: Address to the Nation on Coronavirus pandemic on 19 March 2020 https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pm-modi-speech-on-coronavirus-thank-corona-warriors-1657591-2020-03-19