PM Modi surpasses Indira Gandhi, becomes second-longest serving Indian prime minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the second-longest serving Indian PM in consecutive terms on Friday (Jul 25). Marking 4,078 days in office, he has surpassed the former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s tenure from January 24, 1966, to March 24, 1977. The record for the unbroken stint is held by the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, serving 16 years and 286 days in office from August 15, 1947, to May 27, 1964. Both PM Modi and former PM Nehru led their respective parties to win three consecutive Lok Sabha elections.

PM Modi, 74, is also the longest-serving prime minister who is not from Congress. He is also the only non-Congress leader to complete two full terms as the central government head. First PM born after independence, he entered the office on May 26, 2014. Last year in June, he was sworn in for the third consecutive term.

He was the longest-serving chief minister of Gujarat, where he remained in office from 2001 to 2014 before taking over as the Indian prime minister.

“Modi is the only leader in India, among all PMs and CMs, to win six consecutive elections as the leader of a party—in Gujarat assembly polls in 2002, 2007, and 2012, and in the national elections in 2014, 2019, and 2024,” an official told news agency PTI.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won the 2014 elections with a majority of 272 seats, with Modi as the party’s PM face. In the next Lok Sabha polls, the party clinched victory with 303 of the 543 seats. In 2024, the BJP fell short of reaching a majority but emerged as the single largest party and formed the government for a third consecutive term with NDA allies. PM Modi has emerged as a powerful global leader, asserting India’s voice on the world stage.