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By Nirendra Dev
There may be two and more ways of looking at things. Well, when it comes to Narendra Modi and his political journey – there are numerous prisms and numerous ways.
The victories in the past – both in Gujarat and in the national level – was due to communal politics and not necessarily for developmental works — that’s one version.
Others say – Modi won in the past because he delivered; and perhaps more importantly – because there was absence of a solid challenge from the Congress first in Gujarat and then at the national level.
Modi is lucky – he arrived at the national scene — when the Congress was already branded a ‘corrupt’ and indecisive by the likes of Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and others.
The leadership of Congress also passed on to a comparably ‘weaker’ rival Rahul Gandhi. He won in 2014, Modi repeated his success tale in 2019.
Now in 2024 – if he takes oath as the Prime Minister for the third term; he would be only the fourth Indian to get the distinct honour.
Jawaharlal Nehru was first sworn in as Prime Minister in 1947, followed by 1952 and then in 1957 and 1962.
In total Nehru had 16 years and 286 days in office. Indira Gandhi was first sworn in as the Prime Minister on Jan 24, 1966. This happened after Lal Bahadur Shastri’s untimely death in Tashkent. Shastri expired on Jan 11, 1966.
Indira was successful later to be sworn in again in 1967 after the general elections. Till then she was a member of Rajya Sabha and she contested 1967 polls from the news-making constituency called Rae Bareli.
After that Indira was sworn in as the Prime Minister in 1971 and later in 1980 — post Emergency and post the fall of Janata regime.
Indira’s cumulative tenure of 15 years and 350 days makes her the second-longest-serving Indian prime minister after her father. She also remains India’s only woman Prime Minister.
Indira actually led the Congress to victory in two subsequent elections, starting with the 1967 general election, in which she was first elected to the lower House of the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha.
In 1971, the Congress Party headed by Gandhi managed to secure its first landslide victory since her father’s sweep in 1962. Indira represented Rae Bareli in 1967 and 1971 but lost to maverick Raj Narain in 1977 after Emergency.
She, however, got back the constituency in 1980.
BJP stalwart and the perceived ‘moderate face’ of Sanghparivar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was first sworn in as the Prime Minister on May 16th, 1996.
The government lasted 17 days. He won the 1998 polls and also later 1999 after Kargil conflict. But in 2004 he was voted out.
His first term ended in days; then he was in office for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004. His total stint was 6 years, 64 days.
He was the first non-Indian National Congress prime minister to serve a full term in the office.
During his tenure as prime minister, India carried out the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998. Vajpayee sought to improve diplomatic relations with Pakistan, travelling to Lahore by bus to meet with Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif.
Now all eyes are on June 4. The outcome will decide whether Modi will join the illustrious club.
First Modi was sworn in on May 26, 2014 and five years back he again took charge on May 30, 2019.
It may be mentioned that Dr Manmohan Singh was sworn in twice. His total stint was 10 years, 4 days.
In 2014 as Dr Singh was voted out, Modi became the first Indian PM to be born after the country’s independence from the British Empire in 1947.
On 6 December 2020, he became the fourth-longest-serving Prime Minister of India and the longest-serving non-Congress prime minister.