India’s next PM has humble roots, focus on economy

By Katy Daigle

Published May 16, 2014 12:38pm ET

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India’s next PM has humble roots, focus on economy — 90-year-old Hiraben blesses her son and India's next prime minister Narendra Modi at her home in Gandhinagar, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, Friday, May 16, 2014. The top official in Gujarat state for over a decade, Modi often contrasted his humble roots with the posh background of his main rival, 43-year-old Rahul Gandhi, heir to India's most powerful political dynasty. As the career politician led his party through a dazzling, high-tech election campaign, Modi called voters' attention to his mother riding a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw to cast her ballot earlier this month. "I am the chief minister of a prosperous state ... And my 90-year-old mother goes to vote in an auto-rickshaw," the white-bearded Modi boasted, punching a fist through the air as he claimed his place by India's poor masses. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das) | Ajit Solanki

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s next prime minister, Narendra Modi, is the son of a poor tea seller and has long set his sights on the highest elected office in the world’s largest democracy.

The top official in Gujarat state for over a decade, Modi often contrasted his humble roots with the posh background of his main rival, 43-year-old Rahul Gandhi, heir to India’s most powerful political dynasty.

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