Opinion | As Second Longest Consecutive Serving PM, Modi Signals End Of Nehruvian India In 3 Simple Ways
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Opinion | As Second Longest Consecutive Serving PM, Modi Signals End Of Nehruvian India In 3 Simple Ways
Narendra Modi is now the second longest consecutive serving Prime Minister of India, going past on July 25 Indira Gandhi’s consecutive stint. In the state and centre, Modi has headed a Government for 24 years, which is a record among all prime ministers. He is also the first PM born after 1947, and the longest serving one from a non-Hindi state. Nehruvian secularism, thoroughly discredited over decades of demographic takeover, rioting, and minority appeasement, was the casualty of this first fierce shift of narrative. Because the nation chose someone like Narendra Modi to lead it, if not yet his term as PM, it is unsurprising that he is completing term after term. And it will not be surprising if he leaves it much much after a ruffle after a term of a term. Because Modi has already defeated Nehru’S world, if he doesn’t stay in office as PM for much longer, it will be a surprise if he does.
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News18.com
Last Updated: July 25, 2025, 10:15 IST
Nehruvian socialism in many ways subsumed Leftist ideals, just as Modi’s welfare outreach blunts the claims and protestations of Nehruvian socialists.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PTI file)
Narendra Modi is now the second longest consecutive serving Prime Minister of India, going past on July 25 Indira Gandhi’s consecutive stint. In the state and centre, Modi has headed a Government for 24 years, which is a record among all prime ministers.
He is also the first PM born after 1947, and the longest serving one from a non-Hindi state.
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If one considers just his staying power and electability, the list is long.
He is also the first and only non-Congress PM to complete at least two full terms as Prime Minister.
First and only non-Congress PM to get re-elected twice.
First and only non-Congress leader to secure a majority on his own in a Lok Sabha election.
First sitting PM since Indira Gandhi to get re-elected with majority.
Only PM apart from Nehru to win three consecutive elections as leader of a party.
Only leader in India, among all PMs and CMs, to win six consecutive elections as the leader of a party.
But behind those numbers lives the real feat of Narendra Modi: he has presided over the end of the Nehruvian era.
The reason why we are living through such an intensely polarised Bharat is because for the first time, the mighty Nehruvian establishment of nearly 70 years collided with a worldview so powerful that the storm ravaged the palace of illusions.
Communism was always there as a challenger to Congressism, but in pockets, and nationally a weak one. Also, Nehruvian socialism in many ways subsumed Leftist ideals, just as Modi’s welfare outreach blunts the claims and protestations of Nehruvian socialists.
There is a debate on whether Modi ushered in the time we live in, or this time in the nation’s life threw up a leader like Modi. The latter argument makes a lot more sense.
But what is undeniable is that Modi has ended the Nehruvian era and established a new India based on the aspirations that the nation itself has repeatedly expressed through its political movements, social media, and the ballot box. Even if one puts aside the growing list of Modi’s political tenacity, there are three simple yet potent pointers to a much larger feat.
First, that Modi represents new India and its aspirations of emerging as an economically and militarily muscular nation. While Atal Bihari Vajpayee did the unthinkable by carrying out the Pokhran nuclear tests despite a coalition government and global sanctions, Modi has officially announced the transformation of India from a soft to a hard state driven by self-interest and not Nehruvian altruism.
Whether it is the military belligerence and audacity at Uri, Doklam, Balakot, or Operation Sindoor, or the decisiveness with which Article 370 was lifted from Jammu and Kashmir, or India’s ambitious journey towards the GDP podium, it now feels like a very different nation from a decade ago.
Second is the resurgence of nationalism and palpable return of pride as an ancient civilisation marching towards becoming a prosperous and futuristic nation. Economic liberalisation and the internet — ironically both ushered in by the Congress government of PV Narasimha Rao — brought in a confidence which ultimately blew the Congress ethos out of the water.
And that led to the incredible shift of the Overton window. Nehruvian secularism, thoroughly discredited over decades of demographic takeover, rioting, and minority appeasement instead of inclusive growth, was the first casualty of this fierce shift of narrative, especially under PM Modi. Along with biased ‘secularism’, fake liberalism, weak foreign policy, meek military doctrine, handout economy, crippling corruption…every single vestige of the Nehruvian era was challenged till the nation chose someone like Narendra Modi to lead it.
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So, it is unsurprising that he is completing term after term without much of a ruffle. And it will not be surprising if he leaves Jawaharlal Nehru behind in terms of elected stay in office. Because Modi has already defeated Nehru’s world, if not yet his term as PM.
Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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First Published: July 25, 2025, 10:15 IST
News opinion Opinion | As Second Longest Consecutive Serving PM, Modi Signals End Of Nehruvian India In 3 Simple Ways