On October 7, 2026, Narendra Modi completes 25 years as the head of an elected government. The clock started on October 7, 2001, when he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Gujarat, a job he took up without ever having held elected office before. It has since carried him to Delhi, to three terms as Prime Minister and to a seat at most of the tables where global decisions are made. The 25 years of Modi have been tested, argued over, rewarded and punished at the ballot box, and few Indian leaders can say the same.

The story starts in Vadnagar, a small town in Gujarat, where he was born on September 17, 1950. He grew up in a modest family and, according to his official biography, helped out at the family tea stall as a boy. He joined the RSS, worked for years as a full-time organiser, and entered government only after the Bhuj earthquake of January 2001, when the BJP handed him a state that was still digging itself out. In 2014 he became Prime Minister, and he has been at the centre of executive power ever since.

On October 6, the Union Cabinet marked the milestone with a statement describing the 25 years as a period of continuous leadership guided by “Nation First” and “Citizen First.” It pointed to SWAGAT and Jyotigram in Gujarat, and to Jan Dhan, PM-KISAN, digital public infrastructure, road and rail expansion, defence manufacturing, space missions and India’s growing role abroad.

Achievements are only half the story, though. The same 25 years include electoral gambles, a controversial economic shock, long-running fights over institutions, and a sharp argument about what his leadership has done to India’s democracy and its social fabric. An honest look back has to cover both.

From Vadnagar to the Party Organisation

The RSS years shaped him more than is often acknowledged. They taught Modi to work through cadres: build networks, manage campaigns, talk to people in small rooms before big ones. By the 1990s he was an important strategist inside the BJP, and for most of that time he worked in the background, away from the cameras.

He was an organiser long before he was a mass leader, and his early rise owed little to electoral charisma. It came from years of campaign management and party strategy. The jump to an elected executive post came in 2001.

October 2001: A Shaken State and a First-Time Chief Minister

Modi became Chief Minister less than nine months after the Bhuj earthquake. Gujarat was still rebuilding homes and roads, public confidence was low, and the administration was under heavy pressure.

What came out of those years was later branded the “Gujarat model”: a push on infrastructure, investor-friendly policies, close monitoring of the administration and a strong emphasis on industry. Two schemes from this period are often cited. SWAGAT, a technology-based system for handling citizen grievances, won a United Nations Public Service Award in 2010. Jyotigram was a rural power supply reform. The Union government has since pointed to both as examples of Gujarat ideas that were later adapted for national use.

It was also the most controversial stretch of his career.

The 2002 Riots and the Question That Stayed

The 2002 Gujarat riots, in which more than 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims, became the central controversy of Modi’s political life. Critics questioned how the state government handled the violence and kept raising issues of accountability, communal polarisation and the safety of minorities. The matter followed him abroad and became an international issue, with debates over his political legitimacy and his foreign relations.

A Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court did not find enough evidence to prosecute Modi over the wider conspiracy allegations, and a magistrate later accepted its conclusions. The political argument did not end there. Supporters see a leader who came through an extraordinary political attack and went on to transform Gujarat. Critics see unanswered questions about communal politics, institutional accountability and minority rights.

That split has run through the Modi years at the Centre as well, especially in debates over secularism, religious polarisation and the way dissent is treated.

Becoming Prime Minister in 2014

The next step came in 2013 and 2014. The BJP chose Modi to lead its national campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha election, and the campaign was unlike anything Indian politics had seen in the digital era: huge rallies, heavy social media outreach, a carefully built personal brand and a simple pitch of development, governance and change.

The BJP won 282 seats on its own, its first single-party majority since 1984. Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26, 2014. In effect, a leader had taken his state-level experience and turned it into a national mandate.

Forbes ranked him 15th on its 2014 list of the world’s most powerful people, citing the scale of his victory and his promise of economic revival, and kept him among the most powerful political figures on its 2015 list.

The First Term: Schemes and a New Delivery Model

His first government concentrated on programmes meant to widen financial inclusion and basic services. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana tried to bring millions of unbanked people into the formal banking system. Swachh Bharat turned sanitation into a national campaign. Make in India was meant to grow manufacturing and draw investment. Alongside these came drives on electrification, rural housing, LPG connections, direct transfers and digital delivery of welfare.

The slogan tying it together was “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.” In practice, the aim was less about shrinking the government than making it more visible, easier to measure and more closely tied to technology. That thinking is what eventually grew into India’s digital public infrastructure.

Demonetisation: The Biggest Risk of the First Term

On November 8, 2016, Modi announced that high-value currency notes would be withdrawn. It remains one of the most dramatic economic decisions in independent India’s history. The government said the move would hit black money, counterfeit currency and terror financing while pushing the country towards digital payments.

The transition was rough, particularly for cash-dependent small businesses, informal workers and ordinary households. Critics asked whether the benefits justified the cost. Supporters say it gave India’s digital payments boom an early push. That argument is still open, but nobody really disputes that Modi was willing to take a politically risky call on a national scale.

GST and the Push for One National Market

The Goods and Services Tax arrived in 2017, replacing a patchwork of indirect taxes with a single framework. The rollout was bumpy, especially for small businesses learning new compliance systems, but over time GST has become a central part of India’s formal tax system.

Modi’s economic approach has leaned on formalisation, digitisation, infrastructure spending and manufacturing ambitions, and the results are mixed. Reuters has pointed to heavy spending on roads, ports and power capacity, and also to the continuing difficulty of creating enough jobs for a very large young workforce. Forbes contributors have drawn a similar picture, with fast growth and investor interest on one side and worries about employment, rural incomes and consumption on the other, and a question mark over whether headline GDP growth is reaching enough people.

The gap between headline growth and what ordinary households feel, and between infrastructure spending and the supply of jobs, is still the biggest test of his economic record.

2019: A Bigger Mandate, Bigger Decisions

The 2019 election strengthened his hand further. The BJP won 303 seats, up from 282 in 2014, and the government used the mandate to push through some of its most consequential decisions. In August 2019 it ended the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and reorganised the state into two Union Territories.

Supporters welcomed the move as the fulfilment of a long-held promise of national integration. Critics objected to how it was carried out, to the restrictions imposed in the region afterwards, and to its political and constitutional implications. The Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in the same period and set off widespread protests and a heated national debate about citizenship, secularism and minority rights.

Ayodhya and the Cultural Turn

Ayodhya says a lot about Modi’s political identity. The Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment cleared the way for a Ram temple at the disputed site, and when the consecration took place in January 2024, Modi was the central figure at the public ceremony.

For supporters, it closed a decades-old cultural and civilisational chapter. For critics, it showed political leadership and religious symbolism merging. Whichever view one takes, questions of identity, history and culture moved to the middle of Indian politics during these years.

Covid-19: A Crisis With No Playbook

The pandemic was probably the hardest governance test of his time as Prime Minister. The nationwide lockdown in 2020 was among the largest public-health restrictions anywhere, and the government faced criticism over how suddenly it was announced, over the migrant-worker crisis that followed and over the economic shock.

At the same time, India ran one of the world’s biggest vaccination programmes, developed vaccines at home and supplied several countries under Vaccine Maitri. The pandemic showed what centralised mobilisation can achieve, and also what it costs when millions of informal workers suddenly lose the ability to move and earn.

Foreign Policy: From Vaccine Maitri to the G20

Foreign policy has been the other big strand of these 25 years. Modi’s government has tried to move India from being an important regional power to a more influential global player, dealing with the United States, Russia, Europe, the Gulf, Africa and the Indo-Pacific all at once.

India’s G20 presidency in 2023 was a major diplomatic showcase. The New Delhi summit ended with a consensus declaration and brought the African Union in as a permanent member. India also increasingly presented itself as a voice of the Global South. Even yoga became part of diplomacy: the International Day of Yoga followed an Indian initiative at the UN that drew support from 177 countries.

The balancing act mattered most after Russia invaded Ukraine, when India kept its relationship with Moscow going while deepening ties with the West.

Infrastructure, Digital India and the Tech State

The most visible change of the Modi years is probably physical and digital infrastructure. Highways, railways, airports, electrification, digital payments and public digital platforms have all expanded sharply. UPI has become the best-known symbol of this, allowing instant payments at a scale that has drawn international attention. Aadhaar, Jan Dhan accounts and mobile connectivity have made it possible to send welfare payments and deliver services more directly.

The government is also pushing semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, defence production, startups, artificial intelligence, quantum technology and space. The Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing in 2023 gave the country’s scientific confidence a lift. The Union Cabinet’s 2026 assessment ties all of this to the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, a more self-reliant India.

A Leader Defined by How He Communicates

Part of what sets Modi apart is the way he communicates. He speaks directly to millions through rallies, television, radio, social media and programmes like Mann Ki Baat. His wardrobe, from the kurta and half-jacket to regional dress chosen for particular occasions, is part of that communication. He campaigns relentlessly and keeps a punishing public schedule.

Supporters call him disciplined, tireless and personally invested in governance. Critics read the same traits as over-centralisation and a political system built too heavily around one person. Both readings are common, and both help explain why “Modi” has come to mean more than an individual. It works as shorthand for a political ideology, an electoral machine and a way of governing.

What 25 Years of Modi Must Also Confront

A serious retrospective has to deal with the criticism. Concerns about press freedom and the room for dissent have come up repeatedly. Reuters reported in 2024 that critics were increasingly moving to digital platforms, alleging that mainstream media had become less willing to challenge the government. The government has rejected accusations that it suppresses dissent. International media groups have raised concerns too, and the Reuters Institute has documented cases involving work permits for foreign correspondents and the wider conditions foreign media work under in India.

The 2002 riots remain part of the debate over his legacy. Other criticism centres on minority rights, Hindu nationalism, the concentration of political power, the use of investigative agencies against opposition leaders, unemployment and economic inequality. The government and Modi’s supporters reject many of these charges and argue that elections, welfare delivery, development and public participation are the real measure of democratic legitimacy. The argument is far from settled.

2024: A Mandate With a Warning

The 2024 Lok Sabha election was the biggest electoral setback of Modi’s national career. The BJP won 240 seats, short of the 272 needed for a majority on its own. The National Democratic Alliance still formed the government and Modi took oath for a third consecutive term, but for the first time since 2014 he had to govern with coalition partners.

It was a reminder that even the strongest political brand answers to voters. It did not end his dominance, though. By 2026 the BJP had won back considerable momentum in several states, and the Financial Times described Modi’s comeback as a mix of welfare politics, nationalism, diplomacy, organisational strength and heavy campaigning.

2026: A Record and a Milestone

On June 10, 2026, Modi passed another landmark. With 4,399 days of continuous service as an elected Prime Minister, he went past Jawaharlal Nehru’s earlier mark of 4,398 days. The wording matters here, since the record refers to continuous service as an elected Prime Minister.

Now, on October 7, 2026, the bigger milestone has arrived: 25 years at the head of a government, first in Gandhinagar and then in Delhi.

The Legacy Is Still Being Written

What will history say about Narendra Modi? It is too early for a final verdict. His tenure has already changed India’s physical infrastructure, digital economy, welfare delivery, foreign policy, political communication and cultural politics.

Supporters will remember the leader who gave India more self-confidence, widened welfare delivery, built infrastructure, pushed digitalisation, raised the country’s global profile and set out the goal of a developed India by 2047. Critics will remember worries about institutional independence, social polarisation, press freedom, jobs, inequality and the concentration of political power. Both versions will end up in the record.

Maybe the most telling thing about these 25 years is how tightly Modi is tied to the main questions of Indian politics today. What should development look like? How should India balance growth with social welfare? How should a diverse democracy handle identity and nationalism? Where should India stand between the major powers? Can growth create enough jobs for a young population? Can the country become a manufacturing and technology power? And can the ambition of Viksit Bharat 2047 actually be met? The answers will decide how his legacy is judged.

For now, October 7, 2026 is a historic date either way. Twenty-five years ago, Narendra Modi walked into the Chief Minister’s office in Gujarat. Today he is one of India’s longest-serving Prime Ministers and among the most consequential political figures of the modern era.

His story began in the lanes of Vadnagar. It ran through the RSS and BJP organisations, the political storms of Gujarat, the 2014 election, the Modi years at the Centre and the more complicated geopolitics of the 21st century. A man who began public life as an organiser has spent 25 years learning how power works, and in doing so has changed how Indian politics is fought, communicated and experienced.