Prime Minister Narendra Modi overtook Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as the longest serving elected Prime Minister of India. Nehru remained the Prime Minister of the country from 1947 to 1946 when he died in harness. Nehru was appointed Prime Minister of India at the time of Independence without any elections. The first General Elections were held in 1951-52 in which Nehru was elected with a sweeping and overwhelming majority. Nehru remained an “elected” Prime Minister for 12 years, while actually he continuously served for 17 years.
There can really be no comparison between the two. Nehru and Modi belong to different eras and epochs. Their times are different. Their circumstances are different. Their challenges are different. Nehru, indeed, does rank among the best Prime Ministers of the country and among the best leaders globally. Despite a newly independent India, it is no ordinary feat for its leader to be globally respected and acknowledged and deservingly so. But that is the subject for a different occasion.
Biggest contribution of Prime Minister Modi to India has been that he has proved to be a single stabilising factor for the country's polity during the last 12 years. Needless to mention that the BJP rode on his popularity he had achieved as the Gujarat Chief Minister, to a sweeping victory in 2014. It was for the first time in 30 years, since 1984 that a political party in India had secured absolute majority on its own. Otherwise, after 1984, no single political party had secured a majority. This had led to political instability and consequently economic and social instability as well.
Not only did Modi lead the BJP to victory in 2014, he repeated the feat with improved performance in 2019, with the BJP winning 303 seats of its own. The BJP did fall short of the magic figure of 272 by 32 seats in 2024, but that actually made no difference as the party, in alliance with its coalition partners, succeeded in forming the government for the third consecutive term. It has been two years since then and the government remains as stable and strong as it was in 2014 or 2019. While the NDA enjoys the support of 292 MPs in the Lok Sabha, its strength is likely to increase with the likelihood of some TMC members supporting it. Again, the credit for this goes to Modi.
Besides Nehru, India has had some other great Prime Ministers as well, like Indira Gandhi, Rajeev Gandhi, PV Narsimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh, each of who made immense contributions towards the country's development. Other Prime Ministers like Morarji Desai or Chandrashekhar did not get enough time and power to prove their worth.
Whether anyone likes it or not, Modi, so far, is the most popular Prime Minister the country has had in terms of numbers. In fact, his global popularity is also among the best.
Also read: Modi becomes India's longest-serving PM; NDA to felicitate
While domestically Modi’s contribution in all spheres has been outstanding in terms of economy, infrastructure development, digitisation and other welfare schemes, he has also managed to build up India’s image as a global player. Barring US President Donald Trump, who has actually let him down, Modi has successfully navigated the global waters against many storms. Trump, for that matter, has been equally hostile towards everyone and has not spared anyone when it came to imposing tariffs.
Modi’s notable achievement has been in strengthening the relationship with the Gulf countries, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, despite the latter's close proximity to Pakistan. India-Israel relationship has touched new heights under Modi. Israel has proved to be a great strategic friend for India and was probably the only country that took an open stand in favour of India during Operation Sindoor.
Another major achievement of Modi is having revived and improved the relationship with Canada, which had got completely strained under Justin Trudeau. Under new Prime Minister Mark Carney, the two countries have started getting closer. Otherwise, during Trudeau’s time, the diplomatic relationship between the two countries had almost completely snapped.
Despite a stream of great and significant achievements, Modi is faced with tough challenges in his thirteenth year, which of course are beyond his control. When the country’s economy was moving ahead, the Gulf War broke out between Iran on one side and the US and Israel on the other. The war has shaken the entire global economic edifice. India has been one of the most vulnerable countries owing to our energy dependence on the Gulf countries.
Again, it is someone like Prime Minister Modi who has the capacity to absorb such economic shocks. His popularity and credibility are as such that people are prepared to listen and accept what he says. His critics may accuse him of so many things. They may blame him for many other things. They may refer to the falling value of rupee, increasing value of diesel and petrol and essential commodities, but nothing affects his popularity.
Like Pandit Nehru’s stature, persona and popularity protected him from any domestic backlash in view of Chinese aggression, the same is the case with Modi. His stature and persona have grown to the level that he has the capacity and capability to absorb any shock of any setback. Setback can and will always be there for a great leader of a great country of 1.5 billion people. How he deals with those setbacks, defines the leader.
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