Narendra Dāmodardās Modī (नरेन्द्र मोदी Gujarati: નરેંદ્ર દામોદરદાસ મોદી, born September 17, 1950 ) has been Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat since October 7, 2001. He participated in the rise to political dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat as its elections organiser in the early 1990s, a period which led to its election in 1995. He became Gujarat's Chief Minister in October 2001, promoted to that office when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel resigned, following the defeat of the BJP in by-elections.
He was re-elected in December 2002 as chief minister with 127 seats in the 182-member assembly. His term has been both attacked for mismanagement of and complicity in the 2002 Gujarat violence, and praised for being an outstanding administrator who turned Gujarat into an economic powerhouse and has controlled terrorism. blank">Riots+economic growth=? Indian Express - October 15, 2007
He won a third term as _Chief Minister of Gujarat, on December 23, 2007 with an emphatic win in regional state elections, which he fought on platform of Gujarati identity ("asmita"), and economic progress and security.
