Who is Narendra Damodardas Modi, India's next Prime Minister?

Narendra Damodardas Modi, hard-line Hindu nationalist, controversial legislator, fire-brand orator and organiser par excellence, will be at the helm of the world's largest democracy for the next five years.

Emerging results of India's mammoth general elections show the right-wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) getting home with a thumping majority.

Modi, undoubtedly one of the most controversial political figures in India's post-independence era, is all set to pilot the country with a wide range of promises. This is in the backdrop of India's grand-old Indian National Congress party crumbling under allegations of large-scale corruption and downright mismanagement of the economy.

India's would-be prime minister, Modi, was born on 17 September, 1950 into a low-profile Gujarati family. At a very young age, he began helping his father Damodardas Mulchand Modi sell tea at bus and train stations – a pursuit he often cites, in political campaigns as well as interviews, to highlight his humble beginnings.

His personality has been shaped by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP, which he joined when he was barely eight. The RSS technically remains an apolitical social outfit but wields enormous influence over the BJP. Full story...

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