India's 2024 Lok Sabha elections have culminated and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has clinched a third term under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but the victory trumpets remain mellow and '400-par' appears a far-fetched dream. However, Narendra Damodardas Modi now stands at the threshold of his third tenure as the leader of the world's largest democratic country.
In the small town of Vadnagar, Gujarat - far away from the political muddle of the capital New Delhi - Modi spent his childhood with his parents and five siblings.
His father was a tea seller or "chaiwallah" who used to run a tea stall at the local train station to run the household.
After joining the RSS, the state headquarters of the RSS in the Indian city of Ahmedabad became Modi's home. He worked to save democracy in 1975 when India's then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had declared an emergency in the country.
In 1987, Modi joined the BJP and gained immense support and praise from one of the party's stalwart leaders Lal Krishna Advani.
He became the chief minister of Gujarat in 2001 and since then, the state witnessed a wave of innovation, industry and infrastructure development that turned into a “Gujarat model”.
Modi got embroiled in an ugly controversy when a Hindu-Muslim riot broke out in the state in 2002 after Muslims were blamed for setting on fire a train which was carrying Hindu pilgrims. Some blamed the Modi administration for failing to curb the unrest while few others even accused the leader of being complicit in the violence.
In the year 2014, the BJP had a landslide victory in the general elections as they defeated the ruling Congress, which marked the latter's worst defeat ever and Narendra Modi was chosen as the new prime minister.