As Jyotiraditya Scindia jumped ship to the BJP, many criticised the Congress for not being able to retain its young leaders. The Old Guard is ruining it for the young turks, many said. Now, people are speculating if other young leaders such as Sachin Pilot will also quit the Congress.
But who is a young leader in India? And why isn’t home minister Amit Shah called a young leader as well? After all, he is only six years older than Scindia and Rahul Gandhi.
Perhaps, only those who are dynasty sons and daughters — like Scindia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Aaditya Thackeray, Akhilesh Yadav and Omar Abdullah — are called young leaders, even if they are in their late 40s and 50s. Or maybe they have to look young, have a fit body, speak English, be a connoisseur of food and drinks and be ‘woke’.
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Why Amit Shah makes the cut
No matter his weight and balding head, the fact is that at age 55, Amit Shah is one of the ‘youngest’ and most successful leaders in India. After all, in Indian political discourse, all leaders around 50 are considered young — from Arvind Kejriwal to Rahul Gandhi.
Among them, it is Amit Shah who has been most powerful.
The karyakartas of the BJP respect and listen to him. He has been called an ‘election machine’. Rumour has it that Amit Shah’s biography Amit Shah and the March of the BJP is seeing a steady rise in its sales. People think that any book on Amit Shah will be the bible of politics.
Like any young leader, he is egoistic, overtly confident (he declares victory even before voting), in denial about most things (look at this answer about Delhi riots in Parliament Wednesday) and brazen. He has the energy any young leader should have. The opposition must consider that with Amit Shah, they are dealing with a ‘young leader’.
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Brand Amit Shah
Amit Shah is in many ways the youth icon of India who is both traditional and modern — in short, the ‘adarsh balak’. With his almost saintly attire, choice of words and demeanour, he represents Vedic student, who keeps harping on India’s golden (read, Hindu) past. With his family, he represents the ‘modern’ family man. According to Rajdeep Sardesai’s book 2019: How Modi Won India, Amit Shah enjoys family time, misses his family and travelling with them. That’s a big revelation for Indians who expect politicians to have no life other than politics.
Culturally, he is not threatening to the conservative youth. Rather, he threatens the liberal ‘hip’ and woke generation. However, like him or not, you can’t ignore Amit Shah. He is everywhere — from social media jokes to Parliament. Clearly, he is leading a section of the youth as well.
The fact is that the brand Amit Shah has crept into Indian society, and whoever does a smart thing, considers himself or herself an Amit Shah.
Chanakya Amit Shah is a young leader, after all.