I, Narendra Damodardas Modi ….

26th May 2014 … “Mein Narendra Damodardas Modi…Ishwar ki shapath leta hoon…” when these words were uttered in a deep mesmerizing voice in the oath-taking ceremony, very few had an idea that the dimensions of Indian politics were going to change after this. Not just the entire nation, but the whole world has seen what has happened in the last eleven years. India, which has become the fifth largest economy in the world, is now moving towards becoming the fourth largest economy.

India, which tolerated the 2008 Mumbai attack without retaliating, has shown the world a new and powerful India by directly entering Pakistan thrice in the last eleven years and destroying terrorist base camps supported by Pakistan. The common man is amazed to experience the changes that have taken place in various fields during this period. The international community had no other option but to take note of this changed India. The mannerism of national politics has changed rapidly in the last 11 years.

Even the bigwigs in politics have been displaced. The results of various assembly elections have shown that it is becoming impossible to survive solely on the basis of dynasty. Parties that have created their nuisance value based on castes, language and various social elements are also becoming outdated. In this changed scenario, the common voter has started demanding the report cards of those who have been in power right from grassroots level to the Centre. The ruling class like Gandhi Family, which was managing the political stage for several years and dynasties like Chautalas and Badals are beginning to crumble. Even the fortress of Pawarshahi in Baramati has begun to falter.

Narendra Modi, who entered the scene 11 years back, completely changed the definition of political tactics. The opposition has not been able to design a strategy to trap Modi as they have failed to decode this new definition. As a result, their entire criticism has become person centric.

The opposition, intellectuals and journalists are starting to get irritated by the fact that despite all the slander and rational arguments (according to them), the voters who are supporting Modi are not ready to change their mind. Due to this increased irritation, the argument has lost its sense of actuality and is turning into hoarseness. Therefore, now they are labelling voters and the entire society as a whole, as brainless.

The answer to what Modi did in the last eleven years will depend on one’s own intellectual capacity. Another reason for their irritation is that Modi is actually implementing the same socialist and welfare programs that these intellectuals had been advocating all these years. On one hand, India has started playing a leading role on the global stage and on the other hand the country has started setting new benchmarks of development and progress. The welfare programs are being implemented with great resolve at the political stage.

At the same time, after the Paris and Tokyo Olympics India has seen the Prime Minister who interacted freely with the players, gave them a chance to speak their mind, tweeted after their games, who knows them personally, who is interested in understanding their sports culture, who congratulated and consoled them as well.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi playing all these roles shows promising changes in the sports sector. At the same time, he immediately comes forward to console ISRO chief after the Chandrayaan Mission failed by a whisker. Even the opposition cannot deny that Modi’s leadership is courageous, his every action and decision is driven by patriotism and not selfishness. A fuss was also created that a scheme like Digital India will not be successful in the country. But this scheme not only helped the country’s economy during covid-19 pandemic, but also enabled financial transactions from home during the time of lockdown.

Modiji visited Israel in July 2017. He was the first Indian Prime Minister to do so. We did not establish relations with Israel for 35/40 years after independence due to the fear of hurting the sentiments of Arab nations and its adverse effects on the supply of oil and at the same time to protect the sentiments of the Muslim community in the country and abroad. Yet we have been purchasing weapons and other defence equipment from Israel for several years.

At the same time, Narendra Modi has been honoured by Arab countries with their country’s highest civilian award. This leader has not only succeeded in balancing power in international politics, but also set a new standard of diplomacy in the last eleven years. Covid-19 was the biggest challenge in his 20 years tenure, right from his Chief Ministerial days to Prime Ministership. Entire world economy was in a deep crisis due to this pandemic. India put up a great fight against Covid-19, better than other developed countries.

In early 2020, there were inadequate testing facilities and medical supplies, plus shortage of N95 masks, PPE kits, ventilators, oxygen supplies and oxygen beds. In this fight against Covid it was extremely necessary to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of medical goods and services. The Modi government transformed this situation in just a few months by encouraging local production. India surprised many developed countries by developing a Covid vaccine.

Narendra Modi carried out the world’s largest and most effective vaccination campaign in the country. Modi’s diplomacy played a key role in bringing back Indians stranded abroad during Covid crisis and during war time. Modiji’s image was further enhanced by his extremely calm response to America’s intimidating politics of increasing import duties on Indian goods to 50 percent. It could not be possible to review the achievements of this leader in detail due to word limitation in this article. He is completing 75 years on 17th September. Best wishes to our leader for his birthday…

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 15 September, 2025) 

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson