MOSCOW, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Narendra Modi, 63, is to be sworn in as India’s Prime Minister on Monday, 10 days after his right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won national elections in a landslide.
Modi was born on September 17, 1950 in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of what was then Bombay State (currently Gujarat), India, the third child in a family of four kids.
He completed his bachelor’s with honors in political science and a masters from Gujarat University.
In 1971 Modi joined the volunteer Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) as an activist (pracharak).
In 1988, he became general secretary of BJP's Gujarat unit.
In the late 1990s he was a key campaign strategist for the BJP.
In 2001, Modi was elected as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, a position he occupied until 2014 being elected for 3 consecutive years despite negative media campaigning
In 2005, the US revoked Modi’s visa on suspicion of human rights violations after the 2002 Gujarat riots.
In 2009 Modi was a major campaign figure in the general election, won by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
The marital status of the new Indian Prime Minitser is shrouded in mystery, with some saying he married in childhood as the marriage was arranged when he was 13 years old but after joining RSS he never saw his wife again. Others claim Modi married at the age of 18 and his wife is a retired school teacher who lives in Rajosana village of Banaskantha district.
Modi loves writing poetry. He writes in Gujarati language and has authored several books.
Modi is the second most followed Indian leader on Twitter after Shashi Tharoor, Indian Minister of State for Human Resource Development.
