Amit Shah – a controversial minister and a dynamic party president
Till a few years ago, Amit Shah had a favourite pastime. He would sit in a room with a couple of TVs and constantly flip channels. When not watching news or election rallies, he’d switch to saas-bahu serials that once dominated Indian airwaves.
Today, if you look back at it, Shah’s own life resembles a soap opera that’s had more twists and turns than writers of those schmaltzy soaps could have imagined. He’s lived a life of relative obscurity in politics till being discovered by Narendra Modi, he’s been a minister—and a controversial one at that—of several interesting departments, he’s been accused of murder, he’s been to jail, he’s been— like Anil Kapoor in Tezaab—called a tadipaar after being exiled from his home state; and now he’s part of the Indian government.
To many, Shah’s induction in the Modi cabinet on Thursday may be the fitting finale of a spellbinding story. But, unless destiny has something else planned for him, this is merely the interval. As Shah Rukh Khan famously said, Picture abhi baaki hai, dost (more drama is pending).
Shah’s induction isn’t merely his promotion. It is Modi’s succession plan. By making his co-traveller in the giddying journey from Gandhinagar to Lok Kalyan Marg, the Prime Minister had answered the question, ‘After Modi who?’ Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Yogi Adityanath and whoever else has dreams of replacing Modi better wake up and see the sombre, imposing and stern face of Amit Shah. Some years from now, it is going to be the face of the BJP.
Now that the choice has been made, it looks perfectly natural. In many ways, Shah is an extension of Modi’s personality. He is equally ambitious, driven, hard-working and aggressive. When he speaks, his words sound coming out of Modi’s mind, albeit with more abrasion and intimidation.
And, he is the Ayatollah of Hindutva, both in words and deeds. For him outsiders other than Hindus and Sikhs are “termites” that need to be driven away and supporters of the opposition are “people who would burst crackers in Pakistan.” On the continuum of BJP’s politics—becoming more and more aggressive, divisive and brutal towards opponents—Shah is the perfect choice. Since he is just 54, Shah will get a long rope to perpetuate the ideas and brand of politics Modi may bequeath him as his legacy.
Shah has, incidentally, always been Modi’s shadow. Born in a family of traders in Mumbai, Shah joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at a very early age. He was first elected to the Gujarat assembly in 1997, following a by-election. In the following years, he and Modi worked in rural areas of Gujarat to strengthen the party’s base. Later, when Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat, Shah became his junior minister in the home department—a cesspool of controversies more intriguing than saas-bahu serials—and then when Modi became president of the Gujarat cricket association, Shah again became his deputy.
Their histories have been intertwined so much that the BJP today is referred to as the party of Shah-Modi. It is difficult to separate both as they speak the same voice, propagate the same thoughts, pursue the same strategy and have not even once given a hint of thinking differently, leave alone having a disagreement. To rephrase DK Baruah’s famous slogan, Modi is Shah, Shah is Modi. The only hint of their separate identities is audible only when Shah calls Modi his “sahib” or “pradhan mantri ji.”
One of the striking features of Shah’s personality is that he barely smiles in public. His face is always stern, demeanour intense and voice a bit hectoring. Those who know him argue that Shah’s mind is always ticking like a clock and he has no time for anything other than the party, not even for a stress-busting smile. To explain how seriously he takes his job, a BJP official pointed at a typical day at work for Shah during the recent Lok Sabha campaign—roadshow in the day in Kolkata, meeting with workers in the party office, midnight review in Lucknow, concalls and presentations at airports, and early morning press briefing in Delhi. It is this energy and no-nonsense-attitude towards work that Modi now plans to tap for the government.
A genius—Shah is indeed one when it comes to running a campaign—with unbridled ambition is a double-edged sword. When kept in check, put to constructive use, these traits can reshape the destiny of a person and the tasks assigned to them. There is absolutely no doubt that whichever department Shah—home is most likely– helms will be a vortex of energy, ideas and action. He will run it with an iron fist and a steely resolve.
The danger with such persons, though, is that when they decide to use their power and energy for pursuing personal goals, party’s objectives and individual ambitions, their office becomes a centre for unleashing fear and autocratic control.
We have seen two Amit Shahs over the past two decades. One, a controversial minister in the Gujarat government. Two, a dynamic president of an all-conquering party. Only time will tell which version will surface when he takes over as the second most powerful person in all of India — the conniving saas of the serials he once loved, or the affable bahu Indians so love and admire.
