In contrast to previous leaders who have been privately educated, English-speaking and supported by the urban elites, Narendra Modi eschews the trappings of wealth and lives a life of solitude with no partner or children.
But how did the man who has ruled the world’s largest democracy for a decade get where he is today?
Here’s all you need to know about Mr Modi.
Did he really sell tea?
Modi’s father was a tea seller and his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), emphasises his humble background.
The tale of a young Modi selling tea at a railway station has endeared him to millions of underprivileged Indians, who believe he understands their struggles.
Little is known of his origins and formative years except from what he chooses to share. And it’s a very tightly controlled narrative with a formidable spin machine to provide that aura.
Except his brother has said this tea-selling story isn’t entirely accurate, and that Modi, like the rest of their siblings, just helped their father. So the truth is unclear.
Nevertheless, Indians were “mesmerised” by the story as a “backlash against nepotism, entitlement and dynastic politics”, political analyst Sanjay Jha says.
Advertisement
“They continue to give him the benefit of the doubt; some even believe he can do no wrong. In the perception equation, he is first among equals, giving him carte blanche to do whatever he wishes. It is surreal.”
Image: Pic: AP
When did he get his first break in politics?
His big break came when he was chosen to be chief minister of the state of Gujarat in 2001. He held the role for more than a decade, transforming the state into an economic powerhouse and building his public profile to make a run for the premiership.
He came under scrutiny in 2002 after an argument between Hindu pilgrims and vendors at Godhra station erupted into violence amid allegations a Muslim mob set fire to a train.
The incident saw 59 people lose their lives and sparked large-scale riots across Modi’s state. An overwhelming number of Muslims were killed and thousands of their homes and businesses were destroyed.
Modi and his administration were accused of being complicit in the violence and of not doing enough to stop it, but India’s Supreme Court cleared him. Modi has always denied the allegations and has never expressed remorse.
How did he achieve god-like status?
Whenever Modi makes a public appearance, crowds of thousands gather for a glimpse of him.
Image: Modi supporters wear masks of his face at a rally. Pic: Reuters
Music, prayers and shouts of Modi’s name blare at decibels that make your eardrums ring. His face is printed on dozens of cut-outs, posters and banners.
This is what it’s like when you have a reported 75% approval rating.
On social media, an army of more than 100,000 party workers strive tirelessly to spread Modi’s message directly to his followers.
When did he first become the face of Hindu nationalism?
Modi was just eight years old when he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an organisation dedicated to making India a Hindu nation.
Never shy of showing off his religious identity, a trait most Indians politicians would baulk at, Modi wears it with pride.
“He has portrayed himself as a Hindu leader who has built a certain sense of pride in fellow Hindus,” says Sushant Singh, a lecturer in political science at Yale University.
“Hindu nationalism has gained ground in society, with a marginalisation and victimisation of Muslims and Christians.”
Modi took centre stage in the consecration of the controversial Ram temple in Ayodhya, built atop the ruins of a 16th-century mosque that was torn down by right-wing mobs in 1992.
Hindus believe Lord Ram was born on the exact same spot where the mosque was built in 1529.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
7:47
Is Modi popular in India?
Did he keep his wife a secret?
When he first entered politics, Modi presented himself as single, childless and married only to the cause of building a stronger India.
But it later transpired he had a secret wife – a fact only revealed when he filled in the paperwork to run for prime minister in 2014.
In keeping with tradition, his family had arranged a marriage when he was 18. Soon afterwards he left home and the marriage was never consummated.
His wife, Jashodaben, was discovered living a middle class life years later. She has never spoken publicly about Modi except to question the government’s decision to provide her with bodyguards.
“I have to cook for them… It gets really chaotic when I travel, because I use public transport and the guards follow me in an air-conditioned car.”
While it’s true that India has overtaken Britain as the fifth-largest economy in the world, its GDP per capita remains dismal.
Unemployment is a persistent problem, and thousands of young men risk their lives to seek a better future outside India. Indians are the third-highest nationality when it comes to illegal migration into the United States.
Inequality is at a historic high, even more stark than under colonial Britain. According to a report by the Paris-based World Inequalities Lab, the top 1% of India’s population controls 40% of the nation’s wealth.
India ranks 111th of the 125 nations in the Global Hunger Index (2023) report. The government, however, has rejected the report’s findings.
India is home to more than a third of the world’s malnourished children under the age of five.
Last year Modi announced the extension of a free food ration scheme to 800 million Indians for the next five years.
According to the government, more than 250,000 Indians renounced their citizenship in 2022. If all is well, why are they leaving in such alarming numbers?
Image: A man is detained during a protest against the arrest of the Common Man’s Party’s leader, which opposition leaders said was part of a pre-election crackdown by Modi. Pic: AP
Is he a threat to India’s democracy?
Dissent and protests against Modi or the government have been met with violent police crackdowns.
Since 2014, more than 20,700 NGOs – including international ones such as Amnesty International and Oxfam – have had their licences to work in India revoked after they allegedly violated strict foreign funding laws.
Modi has denied using state agencies to target his opponents.
His administration says India’s democratic institutions are robust, pointing to high voter turnout in recent elections that have delivered Modi’s party a clear mandate.
However, Indian media have found corruption investigations involving 23 of 25 opposition politicians were shelved after they defected to the BJP.
Journalists in India have been beaten, threatened and paid off, and the country ranks 161 out of 180 countries for press freedom.
“India’s democracy in the last decade has collapsed quite substantially,” says Harsh Mander, a fierce critic of Modi, whose home and NGO have been raided multiple times by federal agencies.
“Our judiciary has not been consistent in the defence of constitutional values and the media acts as cheerleaders of the ruling government and propagate hate against Muslim minorities.”
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Image: Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
More from World
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has said 15 people have been injured in “US-British” airstrikes in and around the capital Sanaa.
Most of those hurt were from the Shuub district, near the centre of the city, a statement from the health ministry said.
Another person was injured on the main airport road, the statement added.
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” following a missile attack by the group on Israel’s main international airport on Sunday morning.
It remains unclear whether the UK took part in the latest strikes and any role it may have played.
On 29 April, UK forces, the British government said, took part in a joint strike on “a Houthi military target in Yemen”.
“Careful intelligence analysis identified a cluster of buildings, used by the Houthis to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, located some fifteen miles south of Sanaa,” the British Ministry of Defence said in a previous statement.
More from World
On Sunday, the militant group fired a missile at the Ben Gurion Airport, sparking panic among passengers in the terminal building.
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly caused flights to be halted.
Four people were said to be injured, according to the country’s paramedic service.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Image: Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
More on Iran
Related Topics:
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
Follow The World
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.