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Factbox - Key facts about Modi
Hindu nationalists' return to power in Gujarat means a setback to Congress party plans to call early national polls.
India's Hindu nationalists, led by Narendra Modi, return to power in Gujarat, a verdict that means a setback to Congress party plans to call early national polls.
Here are some key facts about Modi, who is accused of turning a blind eye and even encouraging the killing of hundreds of Muslims during communal riots in 2002.
* Born on Sept 17, 1950, in the small town of Vadnagar in Mehsana district in north Gujarat, Modi started as a campaigner for the right-wing Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and worked as a BJP election manager.
* He was appointed chief minister of Gujarat in Oct 2001, nine months after an earthquake killed more than 20,000 people in the state.
* He returned to power in elections in 2002 on an overt pro-Hindu, anti-Muslim platform, months after between 1,200 and 2,500 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in communal riots.
* In March 2005, the United States revoked his visa for what it said were violations of religious freedom despite his party being known to promote closer ties with Washington.
* A bachelor and a workaholic, he is known to be a loner who meditates, is particular about what he wears, spends time on his laptop computer and also has his own Web site.
