In short, we can sum up - India's second most powerful man today is Shri Amit Shah Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Home Minister.
Shah is credited for changing the entire dynamics of Uttar Pradesh politics in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Ten years after that Shah has to be given all credit for building the 'brand Moditva'.
# Booth level planning by Amit Shah’s team helped -- was a simple but a vital takeaway from 2014 poll analysis.
If Narendra Modi himself has to give credit for party's win in states after states braving all odds in the last decade, he would thank Amit Shah.
India's Home Minister is also known for aptly leveraging the power of information technology, internet and social media to charm the youth, the traders, the middle class, the Hindutva fans and also women. Needless to add, Namo's own charm and popularity are always assets.
Team Modi - essentially meaning the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have also made BJP make immense penetration in states such as Tripura - onetime a Marxist den ! The BJP won two consecutive polls in 2018 and 2023 in the north eastern state.
The admirers of the Team Modi-Shah would say the duo resembles an ideal case of fighting back with the back on the wall. Success is definitely not what one attains easily spoon fed. The success is always sweeter when one braves through all odds and it can come only after he/she has crossed the hurdles.
The reputation of a successful person and the credibility about it lies in the story of his or her struggle. Success, therefore they say, is how high one bounced back from the rock bottom. This applies to both. In the case of Shah probably more because he had to follow his wisdom and instinct and never had the charishma and a magnetic acceptability of Narendra bhai.
Amit Shah fought back.
In 2010, Shah had to resign from the post and even spent three months behind bars on charges of sanctioning the police killing of alleged Islamist militant Sohrabuddin, his wife and later a witness in the case. He was later given bail.
Those were real tough days but the duo stuck and they made up the ladder in Indian politics.
In 2014, Shah was discharged from the Sohrabuddin case by a special CBI court noting a lack of evidence and political undertones to the accusations.
Today, Amit Shah is the power in front of the throne. No longer he is just the backroom boy. He is the man behind all strategies and in both fronts - Modi Sarkar's governance and the party matters - Shah is the indispensable number two to Narendra Modi.
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| 2014 Journey |
Since 1989, Amit Shah has fought 30 elections, including various local body polls, and not lost any.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shah contested from Gandhinagar, a seat previously held by BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani. He retained it in 2024 also.
Shah was first elected as an MLA from Gujarat’s Sarkhej in 1997 and then he retained it in consecutive elections — 1998, 2002 and 2007.
In 2012 Gujarat assembly polls, he contested successfully from Naranpura constituency as the Sarkhej constituency had ceased to exist after delimitation.
If Vajpayee-Advani combine is compared with Nehru-Sardar Patel duo; the third such teaming up story is of Modi and Amit Shah.
In 2019, Shah became Home Minister on June 1 (May 30 was swearing in) and by August 5th, India had created history.
Of course the work started a bit earlier.
Known for pushing the muscular brand of nationalism, the Modi government on Monday fulfilled a long time held pledge of the Hindutva school of thought and took a major step and abolished the special status given to militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir.
The government also moved a bill proposing to divide the 'state of Jammu and Kashmir' into two regions and sought to deprive J&K the statehood status and make 'Kashmir and Jammu region' as a new Union Territory with a legislature.
Needless to add, Shah was the muscular Home Minister of India.
The clarity of vision and boldness in approach have enabled the BJP-led government to bring about a reduction in violence in Jammu and Kashmir and push it towards normalcy.
In 2024 parliamentary polls after BJP's numbers declined various post-poll analyses cropped up. Some of it hinted towards Amit Shah's failure as a modern Chanakya !
Some analysts interpreted Modi's remarks in election campaign as attempt to galvanise his conservative Hindu support base. But, a BBC analysis claimed --
"....looking at the results from some key constituencies – the BJP candidate has lost in the temple city of Ayodhya - it doesn’t appear to have had the desired effect.
Questions are now being raised about using the Hindu card as a campaign tool, especially since what it seems to have achieved is the opposite - uniting Muslim minorities against the BJP".
There were also stories about Shah-Yogi Adityanath cold war.
Adversaries were eyeing Haryana and Maharashtra polls outcome to corner both - the Prime Minister and his 'strategist' Home Minister. But the saffron party proved the prophets of doom wrong.
And the rest is history. On Dec 17th in Rajya Sabha, Shah was fielded by Modi to reply to the debate on the Constitution. It was a big message.
In the entire process, Shah's status has enhanced in a way as Rahul Gandhi has to now fight Amit Shah on daily basis. But there were developments and fracas in Parliament and there are various cases now pending against Rahul Gandhi.
Time to say - advantage India's Home Minister. The two coming polls Delhi in February and Bihar (Oct-November) will decide the future roadmap more accurately.
ends
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