Narendra Modi 26 May 2014 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He became the first Prime Minister born after India's independence from the British Empire. His first cabinet consisted of 45 ministers, 25 fewer than the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. 21 new ministers were added to the council of ministers in November 2014. During his premiership, India rose to the 77th rank from 142th in the 2018 Ease of Doing Business ranking by World Bank. The economic policies of Modi's government focused on privatisation and liberalisation of the economy, based on a neoliberal framework. Modi liberalised India's foreign direct investment policies, allowing
Narendra Modi who voted for the BJP stated that if Modi had not been the prime-ministerial candidate, they would have voted for another party. The focus on Modi as an individual was unusual for a BJP election campaign. The election was described as a referendum on Narendra Modi. During the campaign, Modi focused on the corruption scandals under the previous INC government, and played on his image as a politician who had created a high rate of GDP growth in Gujarat. Modi projected himself as a person who could bring about "development," without focus on any specific policies. His message found support