Narendra Damodardas Modi (born September 17, 1950, Gujarat, India) is the chief minister of the state of Gujarat in India since October 7, 2001. He was born in Vadnagar town of Mehsana district of Gujarat. He represents the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He became the 14th Chief Minister of Gujarat when Keshubhai Patel resigned from office following the loss of 2 Assembly bypolls and 1 Lok Sabha seat.

Modi is a controversial right-wing politician, perceived to have an anti-Muslim bias. He is a proponent of Hindutva, an ideology supportive of Hindu nationalism.

Modi and Gujarat violence of 2002

Modi was criticized for failing to respond to the rioting and looting of the 2002 Gujarat violence that victimized thousands in Gujarat's Muslim communities. Muslims and other critics of Modi accused him of sympathizing with the rioters. In spite of this, Modi's party won subsequent elections of Legislative Assembly of Gujarat with 126 seats in the 182-member assembly.

Visa controversy

On March 18, 2005, he was denied a diplomatic visa by the US, and his business and tourist visa were also cancelled under a law that bars such a privilege to "anyone who carries out severe violations of religious freedom". This decision was taken based on a report by the National Human Rights Commission[1] that found that his state administration had failed to control persistent violations of rights. This decision has created a controversy, with the Indian government expressing displeasure at the development, protesting the action as "uncalled for" and lacking courtesy towards an important government official. Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh took exception to the visa denial in Parliament, saying that it was not appropriate to make a "subjective judgement" to question a Constitutional authority in India[2].

In response, the American Embassy in India stated that the US State Department was assessing India's request for reconsideration of the visa denial. [3]

External links

• Narendra Modi's profile on Gujarat government site.
• Profile by BBC in 2002
• "America denies visa to Narendra Modi" - expressindia news article dated March 19, 2005
• "Indian PM Manmohan Singh upset over Modi's visa denial" - Economic Times news article dated March 19, 2005