Narendra Modi- India Hasn't Been The Same Since...

Once an outsider to Delhi’s power corridors, Modi learned the ropes like an apprentice and took the world by storm.

- Nirmala Sitharaman

This century is yet in its teens, but in India, without hesitation, we can name a change-maker of this century—Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From the beginning of this century, for a decade as chief minister of Gujarat and for just over four years as India’s PM, Modi has made an indelible mark in the annals of our history. The impact he continues to make in the ever-changing geopolitical landscape has positioned India on the high table of most of the global league.

Writing in 1872, Samuel Smiles, quotes Louis XIV in his book Character, “It is by toil that kings govern.” Elaborating this, Smiles writes, “It is the laborious and painstaking men who are the rulers of the world.” Modi is not rel­uctant at his work. Our people put him there as a pradhan sevak and he has put the nation above everything else. Not a day has he taken time off from work. In his initial days as PM, having been ‘an outsider’ to the government of India and Delhi, he gave time on the job to familiarise himself with its ways, just like an apprentice. But quickly he laid before the nation, from the Red Fort, his action plan.

PM Modi believes in detailed planning through extensive consultation. He is an example as a listener—no interruptions, no urgent phone calls, no distractions; he absorbs every input. He doesn’t hesitate to say he needs more inputs, another round of briefing, or more time to mull over. Scaling up and speed in execution are always factored in, keeping in mind the Indian topography and other ground realities. And, hence, many ideas that remained dormant until 2014 are seeing distinct achievements in these four years.