The chief of BJP, Amit Shah has been one of the closest as well as the chief strategist of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was the key person who ensured that BJP won with a massive majority and Modi gets a chance to form a government the second time.
And now, the PM has rewarded him by appointing Amit Shah as the Home Minister in his new government at the center.
It also means that the mastermind behind the landslide victory of the party has taken over the control of de-facto Number 2 from senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh. It should be noted that the latter was the Home Minister in first Modi-led government. Now the 67-year-old will head the Ministry of Defence.
This move clearly indicates that despite Rajnath Singh being in the Big 4 grouping of Home, Finance, Defence, and External Affairs, his posting has been pared-down.
Why Did Modi Choose Amit Shah As Home Minister?
During his term as Chief Minister of Gujarat, Amit Shah was the Home Minister. So Modi and Shah have a good understanding of working together and taking critical decisions in unison. During the recently-held general assembly elections, Shah successfully ran a campaign for more than six weeks to ensure that the BJP’s tally goes beyond 300 and that it wins a massive majority in the elections.
Both Modi and Shah came forward as a politician and have worked together in the state of Gujarat since the 1980s. The current BJP chief made his debut as MP in the Lok Sabha for the first time by winning the prestigious Gandhinagar seat from Gujarat in LS Elections 2019. Incidentally, it is the same constituency from where the senior BJP leader L.K.Advani won six times earlier.
The experience of Amit Shah in handling rallies, making strategic decisions related to campaigning for the party and also his dedication towards the work he does has brought him much closer to Modi. Mr. Shah on his own has run 29 elections at all levels from municipal bodies to parliament and has never lost a single time.
Even during this year’s election, Shah traveled 1.5 km and addressed 161 public rallies.
Strong Presence Capable Of Taking Risks
Amit Shah has a strong presence and is known for making fiery decisions under pressure. During the election campaign this year he fiercely attacked the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and said, “The illegal immigrants are like termites. They are eating the grain that should go to the poor, they are taking our jobs.”
According to experts, Shah has been carefully chosen as the head of the Home Ministry as this crucial ministry has the responsibility of all the internal security, intelligence, and counter-terrorism agencies. It is where the management skills of Shah will be explored especially while dealing with the Chief Ministers from states with the non-BJP government.
Managing the law and order in such states will be a test for Shah for which many believe the BJP President is well-suited for. Right now the important thing is that Narendra Modi needs a strong yet intelligent hand to control the internal affairs of the country so that he can take care of other important things that will make his dream of making India a developed country from a developing nation come true.
Is Modi Developing Shah As His Successor?
Since the two have worked together for more than 3 decades, Modi wants to entrust some major responsibilities on Shah and take his dream forward. Interestingly, speculations are also adrift that Modi is developing Amit Shah as his successor. As of now, Modi is 68 years old and will be 72 years of age by the next Lok Sabha elections.
On the contrary, Amit Shah is much younger at 54 years of age. With BJP biggies like Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley excusing themselves from active politics due to health issues, Modi might be already looking up for young people to fill up the places of the veterans.
