Narendra Modi At 76: 10 Turning Points That Shaped His Political Journey From Gujarat To Delhi | Explainers News

Last Updated:September 17, 2026, 07:20 IST

Modi’s political journey has stretched across three phases: an organisational role in BJP, a long tenure as Gujarat chief minister and more than a decade as India’s prime minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turns 76 on September 17. His birthday that comes against the backdrop of another significant milestone: 25 years since he first took charge of a government.

Modi became Gujarat chief minister on October 7, 2001, and went on to serve in the post for nearly 13 years before moving to national politics in 2014. He has since completed three terms as prime minister. The Bharatiya Janata Party is marking the occasion with a month-long Seva Sankalp Abhiyan, beginning on September 17 and running until October 17. The campaign includes programmes linking Vadnagar, where Modi was born, with Varanasi, the constituency he has represented in the Lok Sabha.

His political journey has therefore stretched across three very different phases: an organisational role in the BJP, a long tenure as Gujarat chief minister and more than a decade as India’s prime minister.

Here are 10 moments that help explain how that journey unfolded.

1. 2001: The Unexpected Move To Gujarat’s Top Post

The first major turning point came on October 7, 2001, when Modi, then a BJP organisational leader, was appointed Gujarat chief minister. It was a sudden transition from party organisation to constitutional office. Modi himself recalled this moment during a 2025 conversation with Lex Fridman, saying he was “suddenly given the responsibility” of becoming chief minister.

The circumstances were particularly challenging. Gujarat had been hit by a devastating earthquake in January 2001, and reconstruction was a major task facing the new government. “The biggest responsibility at that time was the rehabilitation of Gujarat,” Modi recalled.

This move effectively began the 25-year period of continuous service at the head of a government that the BJP is highlighting in 2026.

2. The 2002 Gujarat election

The Gujarat Assembly election of 2002 became another defining point in Modi’s career. He had entered the chief minister’s office only months earlier. The election was held in the shadow of the communal violence that followed the Godhra train-burning incident in February that year.

The BJP won 127 of Gujarat’s 182 Assembly seats, and Modi began his first full term as chief minister. The period also placed Modi at the centre of intense national political scrutiny. Supporters pointed to his electoral mandate and subsequent governance record, while critics continued to question his handling of the 2002 violence.

The political significance of the election, however, was clear: Modi had moved from being a party organiser to becoming an elected mass politician in his own right.

3. The 2007 Gujarat victory And The ‘Gujarat Model’

The 2007 Assembly election strengthened Modi’s position within the BJP. The party won 117 seats, giving him a second consecutive majority. Over the next several years, Gujarat’s investment climate, infrastructure, industrialisation and administrative reforms became increasingly associated with his leadership.

The term “Gujarat model” subsequently became a central part of the political conversation around Modi. His supporters presented Gujarat as evidence that infrastructure, investment and administrative efficiency could accelerate economic growth. Critics, meanwhile, questioned whether the model adequately captured social indicators and whether its benefits were evenly distributed.

Either way, the Gujarat experience became the foundation on which Modi would later make his national pitch.

4. The 2012 Gujarat election: A Launchpad For National Politics

The 2012 Assembly election was another important milestone. The BJP won 115 seats, and Modi secured a third consecutive term as chief minister.

By then, his political profile had moved well beyond Gujarat. The combination of three electoral victories, his increasingly prominent national presence and his reputation within the BJP made him a serious contender for a larger role.

The next year provided the decisive breakthrough.

5. 2013: Modi Becomes BJP’s PM Candidate

In September 2013, the BJP named Modi its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha election. This was arguably the moment when the Gujarat political story became a national campaign.

The BJP’s campaign presented Modi as a development-focused leader capable of providing decisive governance. The 2014 election also saw an unusually strong emphasis on technology and direct communication with voters.

The result transformed Indian politics.

6. 2014: The Leap From Gandhinagar To New Delhi

The 2014 Lok Sabha election produced the most consequential electoral victory of Modi’s career until that point.

The BJP won 282 seats on its own, crossing the majority mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The National Democratic Alliance secured an even larger tally.

Modi became prime minister on May 26, 2014. His first Independence Day speech from the Red Fort contained a phrase that would become central to his political self-description: “I am not the Prime Minister. I am the Pradhan Sevak.”

The idea of the prime minister as a “chief servant” was consistent with the service-oriented vocabulary Modi used throughout his political career.

His first term also saw the launch of initiatives including Swachh Bharat Mission, Jan Dhan Yojana, Make in India, Digital India and other programmes that became associated with the government’s development and welfare agenda.

7. 2019: BJP Returns With A Larger Majority

If 2014 established Modi nationally, the 2019 election confirmed the durability of his political appeal. The BJP increased its tally from 282 seats to 303, while the NDA crossed 350 seats.

Modi returned as prime minister for a second term. The election campaign had increasingly centred on national security, welfare delivery, leadership and the government’s record. The BJP’s slogan of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” – later expanded to include “Sabka Vishwas” and “Sabka Prayas” – became part of the government’s broader political vocabulary.

For Modi personally, 2019 marked the transition from a leader who had won a historic first mandate to one who had secured two successive parliamentary majorities.

8. 2019: Article 370 And A Different Second Term

Within months of the 2019 victory came one of the government’s most consequential political decisions. In August 2019, Parliament approved the legislation that effectively ended Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status under Article 370 and reorganised the former state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The move had been a longstanding BJP commitment. Supporters described it as fulfilling a decades-old political promise and integrating Jammu and Kashmir more closely with the rest of India. Opposition parties and critics raised questions about the manner in which the decision was taken and its consequences for federalism, civil liberties and the region.

It was one of several major decisions that defined Modi’s second term.

9. 2020-21: The Pandemic Tests Modi Government

COVID-19 presented perhaps the most unusual governance challenge of Modi’s prime ministerial career. India entered a nationwide lockdown in March 2020. The government subsequently launched vaccination efforts on an enormous scale, while also implementing food-support and economic-relief measures.

The pandemic period also became closely associated with the government’s emphasis on digital infrastructure, direct benefit transfers and vaccine production. The government’s handling of COVID-19 remains contested. Supporters point to the scale of vaccination and welfare distribution, while critics have highlighted the severe economic and humanitarian consequences of the 2020 lockdown, particularly the migrant-worker crisis and the devastating second wave in 2021.

The episode nevertheless became a major part of the Modi government’s governance record.

10. 2024: Modi Returns For A Third Term

The 2024 Lok Sabha election produced another historic moment. The BJP won 240 seats, below the 272 required for a majority on its own, while the NDA secured enough seats to form the government.

Modi took oath for a third consecutive term as prime minister on June 9, 2024.

That made him only the second Indian prime minister, after Jawaharlal Nehru, to return to office for a third consecutive term following general elections.

The result also marked a change from the BJP’s previous two parliamentary victories: this time, coalition partners became essential to government formation.

Speaking in Parliament in February 2025, PM Modi described the repeated mandates since 2014 as evidence that his government’s development model had been “tested, understood and supported by the people.” That is his political interpretation of the successive mandates; the electoral results themselves show the BJP’s changing seat tally across the three elections.

These 10 moments tell a broader story of how Modi’s political career evolved. The first phase was about organisation and Gujarat. The second was about turning the Gujarat record into a national political proposition. The third has been about governing India while building a political narrative around welfare delivery, infrastructure, nationalism, technology and India’s growing international profile.

His own description of the journey has evolved too. In a 2025 conversation, Modi said his strength did not lie simply in being “Modi”, but in the people of India and the country’s civilisational heritage. Reflecting on his unexpected elevation as Gujarat chief minister in 2001, he linked that moment to the responsibility of rebuilding an earthquake-hit state.

His colleagues, meanwhile, have increasingly framed the 25-year milestone as one of continuous public service. BJP president Nitin Nabin has described the period since Modi became Gujarat chief minister in 2001 as a journey devoted to public service and national development. The BJP’s 2026 Seva Sankalp Abhiyan is built around that interpretation of his career.

The campaign will run from September 17 to October 17 and include programmes showcasing what the BJP describes as transformational sites under PM Modi’s leadership, along with youth outreach and a symbolic connection between Vadnagar and Varanasi.

For Modi, therefore, September 17, 2026 is more than another birthday. At 76, he is marking a quarter century at the head of a government – first in Gujarat and then at the Centre.

Whatever one’s assessment of individual policies or political choices, the timeline itself is unusual in contemporary Indian politics: 25 years, three terms as prime minister, nearly 13 years as Gujarat chief minister and a political career that has moved from party organisation to the centre of national power.

That is ultimately what makes the 10 turning points of his journey significant. Together, they explain how a relatively little-known BJP organiser from Gujarat became one of the most consequential political figures in modern India.

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