Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday will become the country’s longest-serving elected prime minister, marking 12 years at the helm of the central government during a period that saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) become the national political hegemon, expand into newer territories, and attract support from countless communities.
Modi will have spent 4,399 days as prime minister on Wednesday, becoming the longest continuously serving elected prime minister. India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, first took office in 1947, won India’s first elections in 1951–52, and remained in office until his death in 1964. Indira Gandhi, India’s first female prime minister, was in office for just under 16 years, but in two separate terms.
Over the past twelve years, the government has managed to eliminate once-feared left-wing terrorism, revolutionize welfare delivery, build JAM Trinity and UPI, strengthen railway, road and airport infrastructure, reshape India’s defense and nuclear doctrine, and retaliate against Pakistani terrorism, especially the Pahalgam terror attack, through Operation Sindoor. The government also led the country through the pandemic and three devastating world wars.
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The achievement comes weeks after Modi led the Bharatiya Janata Party to historic victories in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal and Assam. The party formed government in Bengal for the first time since independence, defeating the Trinamool Congress and building a base for itself in a province previously controlled by the Left and Congress but in the place where Jana Sangh ideologue Syama Prasad Mukherjee was born.
To mark the occasion, the National Democratic Alliance is scheduled to issue a resolution at its meeting on Wednesday. According to people familiar with the details, the Prime Minister will be congratulated by NDA members at the meeting for his performance and leadership. The Prime Minister will chair the meeting, which will be attended by 72 NDA leaders.
The Prime Minister said the 12-year journey was dedicated to confidence, development and public welfare. “With the blessing of 1.4 billion citizens and the spirit of nation first, we have spared no effort in empowering our youth, women and farmer brothers and sisters. As a result of these tireless efforts, the country today, from infrastructure to digital revolution, has gained a new identity on the global stage,” he said.
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On May 26, 2014, Modi assumed the office of Prime Minister of India. He was re-elected to a larger term in 2019 and became Prime Minister for a third time in 2024.
As congratulatory messages poured in from all over the world, BJP president Nitin Nabin said Modi’s tenure was marked by development and general welfare, with the country making unprecedented progress in various sectors. He said more than 250 million people have been lifted out of poverty through schemes designed to alleviate poverty such as 40 million permanent homes; subsidized health care for 600 million people; 570 million Mudra loans for economic empowerment; and the construction of 120 million toilets, which specifically addressed women’s dignity.
The party chief also said that the value of defense exports was record $38,400 crore was achieved, along with record total export value $79 thousand crores. On the security level, he said that the government was able to end leftist terrorism, suppress terrorist networks in the border states, and strengthen security measures on the ground.
Speaking at the event attended by Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnau and BJP general secretaries Vinod Tode and Tarun Chugh, Nabin also pointed out the government taking strong policy decisions including the effective abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.
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Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju said that the 4,399 days that the Prime Minister spent in office was a proud moment for the party. “I believe that the work done for our country during this period will be engraved in golden letters, marking the time when India, under Modi’s leadership, took its first steps towards becoming the Fixit of Bharat.” [developed India]”.
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the country is witnessing history. “…On this day, Prime Minister Modi established himself as India’s longest serving democratically elected Prime Minister…India’s domestic production rate has averaged 7% over the past 12 years and an unprecedented transformation has also taken place.”
He said that this 12-year term will take India’s direction, position and prominence on the global stage to new heights. “Whether it is the G20 presidency, the International Day of Yoga, or the Maitri vaccine… Whether we are talking about national highways, which have increased to 1.5 lakh km, in civil aviation, we are going from 74 airports to 160 airports, and in the railway sector, there has been a four-fold increase in the rate of development and capacity of railways… There has also been an unprecedented transformation in social development…,” he said.
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Leaders across the world also congratulated the Prime Minister and recognized his transformative governance, advocacy for the Global South and his vision of an inclusive and economically dynamic India.
“This achievement is a testament not only to your years in office, but also to the trust that the people of the world’s largest democracy have repeatedly placed in your leadership,” Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, President of Sri Lanka, said in a message.
In a video message, James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, described Modi as a “role model and example of leadership” and said: “Lifting more than 200 million people out of poverty and into a good life today is an amazing achievement.”
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, said India has evolved under Modi’s leadership as a leading voice in global affairs.
Over the course of the week, the BJP will amplify these achievements of the Modi government, emphasizing how changes have been made across sectors and reforms introduced in public service, expansion of the social safety net, empowerment of the socially and economically disadvantaged, and self-reliance in defense and energy production, people familiar with the details said.
Modi will chair a meeting of chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of NDA-ruled states and union territories on Thursday. According to people familiar with the details, the meeting will take stock of the implementation of policies and programs initiated by the government, the roadmap for the Vixit Bharat campaign, and the measures being taken to mitigate the impact of the ongoing West Asia crisis.
There is also speculation that the meetings will be followed by a reorganization in the Cabinet as well as in the organizational structure of the BJP. Since the government came to power for a third term in June 2024, there have been no changes in the Council of Ministers. Recently, Union state ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurien were not renominated for the Rajya Sabha post upon expiry of their terms, which raised speculation about the appointment of new faces in the Modi government.
