The milestone comes nearly 12 years after Modi first took office on May 26, 2014. According to government figures, his uninterrupted tenure has now exceeded Nehru’s 4,398-day period as an elected prime minister, calculated from India’s first general election in 1952.

“Public service is the greatest measure of good governance,” Modi wrote on social media, adding that public trust is earned through humility, dedication and a sense of duty.

The achievement follows Modi’s return to power for a third consecutive term in 2024, making him only the second Indian leader after Nehru to secure three successive electoral mandates. His leadership has further entrenched the dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Indian politics.

During Modi’s tenure, India’s economy expanded to approximately $4.19 trillion, becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product and overtaking Japan. His government has also highlighted large-scale infrastructure expansion, welfare programs and trade agreements with partners including the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Government officials credit Modi’s administration with major social development initiatives, including the construction of about 120 million household toilets, the provision of 157 million tap-water connections and the expansion of clean cooking gas access to more than 100 million beneficiaries.

Kanchan Gupta, a senior adviser at India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, described the milestone as a reflection of Modi’s role in encouraging ambitious national development goals and delivering large-scale public welfare programs.

Analysts, however, note that Modi’s record in office has also attracted criticism. Journalist and author Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay said economic growth has coincided with concerns over widening wealth inequality and what critics describe as increasing concentration of economic power.

Mukhopadhyay also pointed to concerns raised by democracy watchdogs and political observers regarding the state of democratic institutions and growing political polarization during Modi’s years in office.

Modi has frequently faced criticism from opponents and rights groups over allegations that his Hindu nationalist agenda has weakened India’s secular traditions and contributed to rising religious polarization, particularly affecting the country’s Muslim minority. His supporters reject those accusations and argue that his policies have accelerated development, improved governance and expanded access to basic services.

Addressing the lower house, Modi said the measures, which include increasing the number of legislators, extending quotas for women to state assemblies and redrawing constituency boundaries, would move India in a “new direction.” He said greater representation of women would bring “new strength, fresh thinking, and a greater sense of sensitivity” to governance.

The government said the proposed boundary changes reflect population shifts since constituencies were last fixed following the 1971 census, arguing the reforms are necessary to align representation with demographic realities.

The proposals come from the ruling National Democratic Alliance, which does not hold the two-thirds majority required to pass constitutional amendments in both houses of parliament, and is seeking support from smaller parties and opposition groups ahead of a vote expected this week.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, said they support the principle of women’s reservation but accused the government of attempting to use constituency redrawing to its political advantage. They called for immediate implementation of the quota without linking it to broader structural changes.

The bills propose increasing the strength of the lower house by about 55% to around 850 members, alongside proportional expansion in state legislatures, by the next general election scheduled for 2029.They also aim to operationalise the one-third reservation for women in both parliament and state assemblies by that timeline.

The quota was approved in legislation passed in 2023 but tied to a future census, delaying its implementation beyond the next election cycle.The proposed changes require ratification by at least half of India’s state legislatures before becoming law.

India currently does not reserve seats for women in parliament, despite women comprising nearly half of the country’s 968 million voters.

Women account for about 14% of members in the lower house and 17% in the upper house, while representation in state legislatures stands at roughly 10%.

India’s third most populous state and also one of its poorest, Bihar is ruled by Modi’s National Democratic Alliance and is scheduled to hold an election to its state assembly in the coming weeks.

Women voters have turned out in greater numbers in the past decade, reversing a trend of men easily outnumbering women at the polls, and political parties have competed to attract them.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party lost its outright majority in the federal parliament in last year’s national election, forcing him to rely on support from regional allies to form a government after facing a resurgent opposition, and he is currently navigating one of the most challenging stretches of his 11 years in office.

Addressing women gathered in multiple locations in the state, Modi said via video link: “I see millions of women on the screen, and their blessings are a great source of strength for all of us.

“The (women’s employment plan) is being launched today. So far, 7.5 million women have joined this scheme, and an amount of 10,000 rupees has been transferred to the bank accounts of all these women,” he said.

The plan is envisaged as giving support to women to enable their employment in small-scale ventures such as agriculture, handicrafts and other sectors, the Prime Minister’s Office said. Beneficiaries can also avail of additional financial support of up to 200,000 rupees in subsequent phases of the plan.

Modi’s ruling NDA will face the opposition Congress and its allies in Bihar, which is considered a bellwether state, along with neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and the western state of Maharashtra. ($1 = 88.7080 Indian rupees)