Modi Creates New Record as the Continuous Longest Serving Elected PM Surpassing Nehru
NEW DELHI, June 10: A conclave of NDA constituents was held on Wednesday in the national capital to mark the ruling coalition completing 12 years in office and Prime Minister Narendra Modi becoming India’s longest-serving continuously elected PM.
Mr Modi, senior BJP leaders, and representatives of all constituents of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) attended the crucial meeting at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Chief Ministers and deputy chief ministers of all 22 NDA-ruled states and Union Territories, besides the leaders of all alliance partners, also attended the conclave.
On Wednesday PM Modi surpassed the record of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to become the country’s longest-serving continuously elected PM. He crossed Nehru’s record of 4,398 days in office as an elected prime minister following the 1952 general elections. Nehru’s stint from 1947 to 1952 was as head of an interim government, as elections were not held till 1952.
Former prime minister Indira Gandhi served for more than 14 years in office, exceeding Modi’s tenure, but her stint was not continuous. With 4,399 days in office, Modi becomes the longest-serving continuously elected prime minister of India.
Earlier in the day, the Union Cabinet passed a resolution backing Prime Minister Modi’s vision of a “Viksit Bharat” and praising his leadership on national security, inclusive growth and social justice, as he became India’s longest continuously serving elected prime minister. The resolution, adopted at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Modi, congratulated him on surpassing Jawaharlal Nehru’s record and expressed confidence that under his leadership, India would continue to “scale new heights as a self-reliant, secure and prosperous nation.” The Cabinet ministers gave Modi a standing ovation as he completed 4,399 days in office.
President Droupadi Murmu also congratulated Mr Modi for his feat as the longest serving elected PM.
Later, addressing the NDA leaders’ meeting, Mr Modi said, “I believe that we must not let those who were poor yesterday, and have now become the ‘neo middle class’, slip back. Therefore, as a government and as public representatives, we must work day and night. We have put in the utmost effort, driven by the resolve to fulfil the expectations that this nation of 1.4 billion people has placed in us. We must realise the aspirations of India’s youth, its women, its middle class, and its farmers.”
(Manas Dasgupta)
