IN THE last 12 years he has had an unbroken stint as Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi has not only gone past the record of Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru as the longest serving Head of the Government at the Centre, but also led the country to newer heights in innumerable fields. The importance India has assumed in the international arena in these 12 years has been unprecedented. This is so because Mr. Modi also has steered the national economy to global prominence and has converted India into a strategically strong nation, thanks to the changed security paradigm. India never saw such a period of overall progress since Independence. True, in many areas, India is still to make sensible progress. But the most important aspect of these 12 years is that under Mr. Modi’s leadership, progress in any area has come in the realm of strong possibility. In Indian context, progress even in difficult domains appears within reach. In other words, Mr. Narendra Modi has created a sense of promise in the minds of the people -- which should be considered as the greatest gain or achievement for any Government.

 

When Mr. Narendra Modi ascended the throne, he was still considered an “outsider”, in the sense that he was treated as a freak in national politics. But soon, that impression (in the mind of whosoever) melted as Mr. Modi became sort of a permanent resident in the top post. In addition to the very positive impression in India, Mr. Modi is treated internationally as a global statesman of long years in the official national leadership position. In the global mind, Mr. Modi is not just a Prime Minister of India because he gets elected at the head of the majority parties, but also as a political master craftsman who has the ability to sway the masses in his favour no matter the difficulties and adversities.

 

That is so because he has understood the mental dynamics of the nation in complete detail. His political detractors may not appreciate his superb communication skills. No matter that, the nation -- and the world -- happens to know him as master communicator who has innumerable ways to reach out to the people, latest technology being one of those. No matter his 75 years of age, Mr. Narendra Modi has proved to be a modern man who is all the time willing to learn new things to stay relevant for himself, for his Government, for the nation and for the world. The same cannot be said about every international leader. The list of the public-oriented schemes that the Prime Minister has launched successfully in the past 12 years is endless. But what has mattered most is his innate ability to understand what the people need and offer that to them. When the Pahalgam terror attack took place, the nation boiled in anger -- and the Prime Minister picked up the sentiment and converted it into “Operation Sindoor”.

 

That hi-tech military action captured the imagination of the world like nothing else did. But the real high point of Op Sindoor was that the entire focus remained fixated on the achievement of the nation’s military capabilities and not on the political leadership. True, as Prime Minister, Mr. Modi is always in public glare. Yet, even to international audiences, he insists that he represents 1.4-billion-plus Indians who have kept democracy a vibrant system that delivers. Mr. Modi’s political adversaries often berate him for many things, but by now the nation has understood that much of the criticism is only politically-driven and does not carry actual substance. Such high personal credibility was never enjoyed by any of his predecessors over such a long period of 12 years. When he got elected for the first time as Prime Minister in 2014, Mr. Modi was fully conscious that he had to lead the nation possibly in the most difficult times. Yet, he had a complete plan of action ready -- not just for the current day but also for the future. All that has made the real difference to India’s progress in the last 12 glorious years.