Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi entered 20th consecutive year as the democratically elected head of a government, without a break, on Wednesday.
The journey of the Prime Minister in public office began on October 7, 2001, as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. This was followed by three terms as the Gujarat CM in 2002, 2007 and 2012, respectively.
During the third term as the Gujarat CM, however, Modi fought the 2014 general elections. His popularity, which was going through the roof both inside and outside the State, led to the BJP declaring him as its prime ministerial candidate in 2013.
He had been projected as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the PM post.