New Delhi, 25 July

Narendra Modi on Friday overtook Indira Gandhi to become the second longest serving prime minister of India in consecutive terms.

Modi, officials noted, completed 4,078 days in office on Friday. Gandhi was in the office in an unbroken stint for 4,077 days, from 24 January, 1966, to 24 March, 1977.

The record for the unbroken stint is held by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister. Both Modi and Nehru led their respective parties to victory in three consecutive Lok Sabha elections.

Nehru, who remained at the helm from 15 August, 1947, till his death on 27 May, 1964, had an uninterrupted tenure of 6,130 days.

As an elected head of a government, in state and at the Centre, Modi already enjoys the longest stint.

He became Gujarat chief minister in 2001 and remained in office before taking over as prime minister in 2014.

Modi, the first prime minister born after Independence, is also the longest serving non-Congress PM. The officials noted that the Gujarat-born leader is the only non-Congress leader to complete two full terms as the head of the central government.

"Modi is the only leader in India, among all PMs and CMs, to win six consecutive elections as the leader of a party -- Gujarat assembly polls in 2002, 2007 and 2012, and the national elections in 2014, 2019, and 2024," an official said.