Born in 1950 in India's Gujarat State, Modi, M.A. in political science, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1987.

He was the secretary of the party's Gujarat State branch and then the party's national secretary before becoming the national general secretary.

Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014. He led the BJP in winning a majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, in India's 16th general election held in 2014, and took office as India's prime minister on May 26, 2014.