Deepak Kumar Rath
On October 7, 2001, Narendra Modi took oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Twenty-five years later, he remains continuously at the head of a government—first in Gujarat and, since 2014, at the helm of the Union government. In a parliamentary democracy where political fortunes can change within a single electoral cycle, such continuity is unusual. Yet the significance of Modi’s 25-year journey cannot be reduced to a record of political endurance. The more consequential question is what has changed during these years—and which elements of the Modi era may continue to shape India long after his tenure ends. The central feature of Modi’s governing philosophy has been an attempt to narrow the gap between running a government and transforming the country. His political vocabulary has consistently emphasised implementation, delivery and measurable outcomes. Roads, railways, electricity, sanitation, housing, health services, cooking gas, tap water and bank accounts have been presented not merely as government schemes but as instruments of everyday change. The Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile framework illustrates this approach. By combining bank accounts, digital identity and mobile connectivity with Direct Benefit Transfer, the state has sought to reduce intermediaries and deliver welfare more directly. Government data shows that DBT has become a vast mechanism of welfare delivery, with cumulative transfers running into tens of lakh crore rupees. But the more lasting transformation may lie in the relationship between citizens and technology. UPI has moved digital payments from being largely an urban, technology-oriented activity to an everyday economic habit. In FY 2024-25, UPI accounted for 81 per cent of retail digital payment transactions in India; by 2026, its scale had expanded further. This is more than a financial reform. It represents a change in how citizens interact with markets, businesses and the state. Economically, the Modi years have also been marked by structural reforms and a stronger emphasis on infrastructure and domestic manufacturing. GST sought to create a more unified indirect-tax system, while the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code introduced a new framework for dealing with corporate distress. At the same time, public capital expenditure has risen sharply, with Union capital outlay increasing from ₹5.92 lakh crore in FY2021-22 to a budgeted ₹11.21 lakh crore for FY2025-26. The manufacturing story is equally significant. Electronics production has expanded dramatically, while semiconductor manufacturing has emerged as a strategic priority. Government data places electronics production at ₹13.11 lakh crore in 2025-26, compared with ₹1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15. The push for semiconductors, defence production and technological self-reliance reflects a broader attempt to move India higher up global value chains.
Furthermore, national security has been another defining element. The surgical strikes, Balakot and the 2019 changes concerning Article 370 represented a more assertive security posture. Operation Sindoor in 2025 further reinforced the government’s stated policy of responding directly to cross-border terrorism, with the Defence Ministry describing the operation as focused and non-escalatory. Whatever the political disagreements surrounding such decisions, they have undeniably placed national security at the centre of India’s political discourse. Equally important has been the cultural dimension of the Modi era. The Ram temple, the redevelopment of Kashi Vishwanath, yoga, Indian languages, millets and civilisational heritage have been incorporated into a political narrative that argues modernisation need not require cultural detachment. The underlying proposition is that a technologically advanced India can simultaneously be conscious of its historical and civilisational inheritance. That may ultimately be the most important question surrounding Modi’s legacy. His 25 years cannot be judged only by the number of roads built, accounts opened, elections won or schemes launched. The deeper test is whether he has altered the expectations Indians have of government and of themselves. The movement from “chalta hai” to “change is possible”, from government to governance, from beneficiary to citizen, and from a perceived conflict between tradition and modernity to an attempt to combine the two, captures the larger ambition of the Modi era. Twenty-five years after that first oath in Gujarat, therefore, the Modi story is no longer simply about political longevity. It is about whether the institutions, technologies, policy priorities and political ideas associated with his years in office will take India to the pedastal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. That, ultimately, is the more demanding measure of his legacy.
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