Amit Shah is an Indian politician and a key strategist of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has served as India’s Minister of Home Affairs since 2019, making him a three-time Home Minister, and has been the country’s first Minister of Cooperation since 2021. Previously, he was the BJP President from 2014 to 2020, playing a crucial role in the party’s electoral successes.
A close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah’s political career began with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Shah joine the RSS in1982 and the BJP in 1987 and rose up to become a key figure in Gujarat politics. After the 2002 Gujarat assembly elections, he became the youngest minister in then Chief Minister Modi’s cabinet, holding 12 portfolios, including the Ministry of Home. Shah represented the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from Sarkhej (1997–2012) and Naranpura (2012–2017).
In 2017, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, and in 2019, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Gandhinagar. He took oath as a Lok Sabha member in June 2024.
Shah has been embroiled in several controversies, including accusations of involvement in extrajudicial killings during his tenure as Gujarat’s Home Minister and his alleged role in illegal surveillance. His handling of the inter-tribe conflict in Manipur, which began in 2023, has attracted criticism, with many questioning the government’s response to the escalating violence and the security situation in the region.
Very well analysed! Perhaps it is the frenetic pace of liberalism, modernity, science and technology over past 2 decades, which makes people want to get off and get medieval. Purely for nostalgia.
You make an important point about bjp not having a strategic agenda beyond the borders of our country. Mr Modi is often compared with Mrs Gandhi, where he differs from her is the international ambition. Mrs Gandhi’s NAM and CHOGM were flawed but showed her international ambitions. Mr Modi, despite trotting the globe, does not seem to have a clear strategy on what India wants to achieve from so much international contact. His much tom-tommed visits to our neighbourhood – Pakistan, Nepal, China and now perhaps even Bhutan- have seen a worsening of relationships with them. Worst perhaps in decades.
At least on university campuses, it should be Make love, not war …