2014 Indian general election campaign

2014 Indian general election campaign

Modi played a significant role in the BJP's 2009 general-election campaign.

On 31 March 2013 Modi was appointed to the BJP parliamentary board, the highest decision-making body in the party, and at the party's 9 June national executive meeting he was appointed chair of the BJP's central election campaign committee for the 2014 general election Senior leader and founding member Lal Krishna Advani resigned his party posts after the appointment in protest of leaders who were "concerned with their personal agendas". His resignation, which was described by The Times of India as "a protest against Narendra Modi's elevation as the chairman of the party's election committee", was withdrawn the following day at the urging of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. In September 2013, the BJP announced that the chief minister would be their candidate for prime minister in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

Modi was a candidate in two constituencies: Varanasi and Vadodara During the campaign, he pledged to speed up government decision-making and remove bureaucratic hurdles which slowed development He won in both constituencies, defeating Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi and Madhusudan Mistry of the INC in Vadodara by 570,128 votes The BJP-led NDA won the general election overall and the INC experienced its worst-ever defeat Modi, who was unanimously elected leader of the BJP after his party's victory, was appointed prime minister by India's president To comply with the law that an MP cannot represent more than one constituency, he vacated the Vadodara seat. In what CNN described as "India's first social media election", Modi used Twitter, Facebook, Google Hangouts and holographic projections for campaign appearances. His victory tweet was the most re-tweeted tweet in India.

Prime Minister (2014–present)

Further information: Swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi

Modi reading from a paper into a bank of microphones

Modi (far right) being sworn in as Prime Minister, in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee (far left), 2014.

Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He became the first Prime Minister born after India's independence from the United Kingdom. He was the first to invite all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation leaders to attend his swearing-in ceremony. His first cabinet consisted of 45 ministers, 25 fewer than the previous UPA government. He started a monthly radio program titled "Mann ki Baat" on 3 October 2014. He repealed 1,159 obsolete laws in first two years as compared to 1,301 such laws repealed by his preceding governments over a span of 64 years. As of May 2016, more than 1.04 crore people have been trained under Skill India Mission launched by him in 2015.

Economic policies

See also: Make in India

As Prime Minister, Modi announced measures to speed up the efficiency of India's economy and reform the red tape that had traditionally hindered Indian business, streamlining the bureaucratic requirements on companies such as a complex permit and inspection system and numerous regulations, so as to make business easier.[197][198] Modi also ordered reform among the bureaucrats of the Indian Administrative Service to ensure a more efficient government bureaucracy.[199][200] The Planning Commission was abolished and replaced with a think tank called NITI Aayog.[201] In October 2014, the Modi government deregulated diesel prices.[202]

Modi with Iranian Finance Minister, Ali Tayebnia in Tehran, 22 May 2016

Modi's government also liberalised India's foreign direct investment policies, allowing more foreign investment in numerous industries.[203][204] In May 2015, it was reported that foreign direct investment in India had risen 61% since the previous year.[205] In September 2015, India was the world's top foreign direct investment destination, overtaking China and the United States.[206] In November 2015, his government eased foreign investment regulations in 15 major sectors of the economy.[207]

In September 2014, Modi introduced the Make in India initiative to encourage foreign companies to manufacture products in India, with the goal of turning India into a global manufacturing hub.[208]

Modi's government has increased infrastructure spending to massively expand the country's transportation infrastructure. Projects to improve and expand the country's road and railway networks were undertaken, with railway reform being among the government's top priorities. In November 2015, the Indian government signed major deals with General Electric and Alstom to supply India with 1,000 new diesel locomotives, which would be built in India as part of the "Make in India" scheme.[209][210] In December 2015, Modi's government signed an agreement with Japan to jointly build a bullet train system linking Mumbai and Ahmedabad.[211] The Indian government also began a massive expansion of India's highway network, and is intent on building transport links to remote areas. In addition, an expansion of the country's water transport network was put forward, with a plan on converting 101 rivers into national waterways for the transport of goods and passengers. Construction was started for new sea and river ports, and plans were drawn up for waterbus and hovercraft services.[212][213][214][215][216]

Modi launched a flagship scheme for developing 100 smart cities on 25 June 2015.[217] In addition to the smart cities initiative, Modi unveiled the "smart villages" initiative, under which rural villages will be given Internet access, clean water, sanitation, and low-carbon energy, with Members of Parliament overseeing the programme's implementation in select villages in their constituencies, other than their own or those of their relatives, with the goal of at least 2,500 smart villages by 2019.[218]

On 22 January 2015, Modi launched two schemes - Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana and Sukanya Samriddhi Account.[219] In June 2015, Modi launched the "Housing for All By 2022" project, which intends to eliminate slums in India by building about 20 million affordable homes for India's urban poor.[220][221] In May 2016, he claimed that his government have been able to plug leakages worth ₹360 billion (US$5.3 billion) across various schemes by identifying and stopping 1.62 crore fake ration cards.[222]

In 2016, he announced his target to double the farmers income by 2022.[223][224] He also launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in 2016.[225]

Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana in August 2014, in which 21.90 crore accounts have been opened and an amount of ₹377.75 billion (US$5.6 billion) have been deposited by 18 May 2016.[226] He launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on 1 May 2016 to distribute LPG connections to women of BPL families.[227]

Health and sanitation policies

See also: Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

PM Modi participates in cleanliness drive at his constituency in Varanasi.

Modi's government developed a draft policy to introduce a universal health care system, known as the National Health Assurance Mission. Under this plan, the government was to provide free drugs, diagnostic treatment, and insurance coverage for serious ailments, although budgetary concerns have delayed its implementation.[228][229][230]

In October 2014, Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ("Clean India") campaign, a national cleanliness drive to eliminate widespread open defecation prevalent in rural areas, as well as reduce widespread littering throughout the country, so as to improve India's poor sanitary conditions. As part of the programme, a public awareness campaign against littering was launched, and the Indian government stepped up construction of toilets in rural areas, as well as efforts to encourage people to use them.[231][232][233] The Indian government also announced a series of projects to build new sewage treatment plants