What is Narendra Modi's Net Worth and Salary?
Narendra Modi is an Indian politician who has a net worth of $100 thousand. Narendra Modi serves as the 14th prime minister of India, a position he assumed in 2014. Previously, he was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014. A highly controversial figure, Modi has been criticized for his far-right Hindu nationalism and his weakening of India's democratic institutions.
Salary
As Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi earns a monthly salary of ₹280,000 (approximately $3,500 USD).
Early Life and Education
Narendra Modi was born on September 17, 1950 in Vadnagar, Bombay State, India into a Gujarati Hindu family of grocers. He was the third of six children of Hiraben and Damodardas. At the age of eight, Modi was introduced to the far-right Hindu nationalist paramilitary group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and started attending its local training sessions. After completing his Higher Secondary Certificate in Vadnagar in 1967, Modi traveled across India. He eventually settled with his uncle in Ahmedabad. In 1971, Modi joined a Jana Sangh Satyagraha in Delhi to enlist to fight in the Bangladesh Liberation War. After that, he became a full-time worker for the RSS in Gujarat. Later, in 1978, Modi earned his BA degree in political science from the School of Open Learning at Delhi University. He went on to obtain his MA in the same field from Gujarat University in 1983. However, there has been some skepticism around the authenticity of these degrees.
Political Career Beginnings
After Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in 1975, Modi became general secretary of an RSS committee opposing the emergency in Gujarat. Subsequently, the RSS was banned, and Modi was forced to go underground while dissembling to avoid arrest. During this time, he printed pamphlets and organized demonstrations opposing the government, and also wrote a book. Following the end of the stage of emergency in India, Modi became a regional RSS organizer in Surat, Vadodara, and Delhi. In 1985, the RSS assigned him to the Bharatiya Janata Party, where he held a number of positions going up through the party's hierarchy. Modi eventually rose to the rank of general secretary.
Chief Minister of Gujarat
In 2001, Modi was appointed as the chief minister of Gujarat, and soon after that was elected to the legislative assembly. The next year, he and his administration were involved in precipitating the Gujarat riots, which erupted after Modi claimed local Muslims were responsible for a train accident near Godhra that killed a large number of Hindu pilgrims. During the ensuing riots, over 1,000 people were killed, three-quarters of whom were Muslim. Beyond the 2002 Gujarat riots, Modi and his administration were heavily criticized for failing to improve health, poverty, and education in Gujarat. However, Modi remained relatively popular, and remained chief minister of Gujarat until 2014.
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Prime Minister of India
In the 2014 Indian general election, Modi led the BJP to a parliamentary majority, the first parliamentary majority for any party in India since 1984. His administration went on to increase direct foreign investment while cutting spending on healthcare, education, and social welfare. Modi also launched a high-profile sanitation campaign, initiated the controversial demonetization of high-denomination banknotes, and eroded or abolished various environmental and labor laws. Notoriously, in 2019, his administration initiated the botched Balakot airstrike against an alleged terrorist training camp in Pakistan. The failed airstrike resulted in the deaths of six Indian personnel to friendly fire. However, thanks in part to his continued anti-Muslim, pro-Hindu-nationalist rhetoric, Modi and his party easily won the 2019 Indian general election.
In Modi's second term, his administration revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, an Indian-administered portion of the highly disputed Kashmir region. The administration also passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, an anti-Muslim law that sparked widespread protests and led to the deadly 2020 Delhi riots, in which Muslims were attacked and killed by Hindu mobs, sometimes with the help of state police. Further unrest in India was caused by a trio of controversial farm laws, which led to sit-ins by farmers across the nation. Overall, under Modi's tenure, India has seen a systematic weakening of its democratic institutions. Despite his high approval ratings domestically, Modi has been widely criticized both at home and abroad for advancing India's realignment with far-right Hindu nationalism.
Personal Life
When he was 18, Modi entered into an arranged marriage with Jashodaben Chimanlal. However, he soon abandoned her, although never got a divorce.
A vegetarian and a teetotaler, Modi leads a parsimonious lifestyle. Although he is an introvert, he has been noted for his energy and charisma, as well as what some have called arrogance.
