Narendra Modi was thrust into the thick of governance in 2001 as the party suffered a setback in local polls in Gujarat and the response of the state government headed by CM Keshubhai Patel to the massive Kutch earthquake was found wanting.Within months of his swearing-in as CM, riots swept the state in the wake of the Godhra train-burning incident. BJP’s win in the 2002 assembly polls cemented his position and dissidents in the party were marginalised as he set about implementing his governance agenda.
Oct 2001-May 2014: Gujarat CM
- Kutch rebuilt. In 2003, Gujarat passed India’s first state disaster management law.
- Vibrant Gujarat Summit launched in 2003 to showcase its strength & attract investors.
- Jyotigram Yojana, launched in 2006, prioritised reliable power supply over subsidised but erratic electricity to villages. Soon, all 18,000 villages had access to reliable three-phase power as non-farm economic activity expanded and subsidies were nearly halved.
- Sagarkhedu Sarvangi Vikas Yojana launched in 2007 adopted an outcome-oriented mission for coastal communities, combining infrastructure, livelihoods, irrigation, salinity control, coastal security and fisheries development.
- Launched in 2009, Garib Kalyan Mela took welfare delivery to citizens.
- Check dams, farm ponds, recharge wells, canals and inter-basin transfers were planned as surplus floodwater was carried through 332km of canals and Narmada water reached reservoirs across Saurashtra, opening over 10 lakh acres of irrigation potential. A CAG report in 2017 recorded groundwater recharge roughly 50% above 2002 levels.
- His government linked ports with power, roads, rail and industrial estates. Mundra, Hazira and Pipavav grew into major private ports.
Nudged by RSS, the BJP brass named Modi in June 2013 as its campaign committee head for the 2014 polls and soon elevated him as its PM candidate. When results were announced on May 16, BJP more than doubled its tally to 282, its first majority in the then 545-member Lok Sabha. It was the first majority government since 1984.
2014-2019: First term as PM
- His government launched Jan Dhan Yojana, and 59 crore accounts were opened with over Rs 3.1 lakh crore in deposits. Women owned 33 crore of these accounts. This helped in ushering in direct benefit transfer, changing welfare delivery. By Aug 2026, DBT had transferred Rs 53.2 lakh crore across 320 schemes and 56 ministries.
- In his Aug 15 speech at Red Fort, Modi spoke of the indignities women suffer due to lack of toilets and announced a sanitation campaign. Swachh Bharat Mission was launched. PM Ujjwala Yojana, launched in 2016, gave 10.5 crore free LPG connections to women from poor households by May 2026.
- His government expanded the social security net, including free treatment for the poor under Ayushman Bharat. By 2025, official estimates say 94.3 crore Indians were covered by some form of social protection, up from 19% in 2015 to 64%.
- GST was rolled out in July 2017 in what the PM lauded as economic unification of India as tax borders came down and the market became one.
2019-24: Second term as PM
- Few people outside the top echelons of government were aware when it took probably its most significant political calls: revoking the special constitutional status enjoyed by J&K under Article 370, downgrading the state to the status of UT and hiving off Ladakh as a UT.
- A verdict from SC paved the way for construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The idol was consecrated in Jan 2024.
- CAA was passed in 2019, providing a path to citizenship for persecuted non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
- The Covid pandemic and lockdowns tested government as India suffered a large human toll. Scaling up of indigenous vaccines and the world’s largest vaccination campaign helped. Government launched the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme. It was also a period when UPI use began zooming and has become a definitive success.
2024: Wins a third term
BJP went into the 2024 elections with supreme confidence and was humbled as a section of voters balked at its “abki baar 400 paar” slogan. However, it won a majority with its allies even as it lost its own majority after a decade.
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A manufacturing push in semiconductors, startups and self-reliance continues to be the focus. Govt cited India’s high growth rate to emphasise handling of global headwinds.Security forces’ success in virtually eliminating Naxalism, cited by predecessor Manmohan Singh as the biggest internal threat to India, has been a boost to BJP’s national security agenda.Operation Sindoor targeted terrorist hideouts in Pakistan in May 2025 after the Pahalgam attack.
