Amit Shah: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Home Minister of India}}

| birth_name          = Amit Anilchandra Shah

| image              = Sh Amit Shah.jpg

| caption            = Shah in 2021

| president          =  

*[[Ram Nath Kovind]]

| president1           =  

*[[Ram Nath Kovind]]

| 1blankname1         = Vice President

| 1namedata1           =  

*[[Venkaiah Naidu|M. Venkaiah Naidu]]

| successor2          =

| party              = [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]

|otherparty           = [[National Democratic Alliance]]

| parents            =

'''Amit Anil Chandra Shah''' (born 22 October 1964) is an Indian politician currently serving as the [[Minister of Home Affairs(India)|Minister of Home Affairs]] since 2019 and the first [[Minister of Co-operation]] of India since 2021. He served as the [[List of Presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party|President]] of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) from 2014 to 2020. He has also served as chairman of the [[National Democratic Alliance]] (NDA) since 2014. He was elected to the lower house of Parliament, [[Lok Sabha]], in the [[2019 Indian general elections]] from [[Gandhinagar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Gandhinagar]]. Earlier, he had been elected as a member of the upper house of Parliament, [[Rajya Sabha]], from [[Gujarat]] in 2017. A chief strategist of the BJP, he is a close aide to [[Narendra Modi]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/amit-shah-bjps-chanakya-who-delivered-modi-wave-2-0/articleshow/69465902.cms | title=Amit Shah: BJP's 'Chanakya' who delivered Modi Wave 2.0 | work=[[The Times of India]] | date=23 May 2019 | access-date=1 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/amit-shah-bjp-s-chanakya-strategised-modi-wave-2-0-1532943-2019-05-23 | title=Amit Shah: BJP's Chanakya who strategised and delivered Modi wave 2.0 | work=India Today | date=23 May 2019 | access-date=1 June 2019}}</ref>

During his college days, Shah was a member of the [[Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad]] (ABVP), the student wing of the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS). At the age of 18, he secured a position in the ABVP and joined the BJP in 1987. Shah was first elected in [[Gujarat]] as the [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|MLA]] for a seat partly covering [[Ahmedabad]], [[Sarkhej (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Sarkhej]] in 1997 (a by-election). He continued to hold it in the 1998, 2002 and 2007 elections until the seat's dissolution in 2008; he then got elected from the nearby [[Naranpura (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Naranpura]] in [[2012 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election|2012]]. As a close associate of [[Chief minister|Chief Minister]] [[Narendra Modi]], he held executive portfolios in the [[Government of Gujarat|Gujarat state government]].

Shah was the BJP's in-charge for India's largest and politically most crucial state, [[Uttar Pradesh]], during the [[2014 Lok Sabha elections]]. The [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]] and its NDA won 73 out of 80 seats. As a result, Shah rose to national prominence and was appointed as the party's national president in July 2014.<ref name="IT_new_2015">{{cite news |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20140728-rahul-kanwal-on-the-man-behind-the-reputation-amit-shah-bjp-804608-2014-07-17 |title=Inside the mind of Amit Shah: All eyes on new BJP chief as party gears up for battle in five states |date=17 July 2014 |work=India Today }}</ref>

 

He has played an organising and membership-promotional role in the elections of many states since 2014. In his initial two years, the BJP achieved success in [[Legislative Assembly elections in India, 2014|Legislative Assembly elections]] in [[2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election|Maharashtra]], [[2014 Haryana Legislative Assembly election|Haryana]], [[2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[2014 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election|Jharkhand]] and [[Assam]] but lost ground in [[2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election|Delhi]] and the large eastern state of [[2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election|Bihar]] in 2015.

Amit Anil Chandra Shah<ref>{{Cite web|title=Amit Anil Chandra Shah {{!}} National Portal of India|url=https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/indian-parliament/amit-anil-chandra-shah|access-date=5 July 2021|website=www.india.gov.in}}</ref> was born in [[Mumbai]] on 22 October 1964.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/politics/amit-shah-an-organisation-man-at-helm-114071000099_1.html |title=Amit Shah: An organisation man at helm |author=Premal Balan |date=10 July 2014 |newspaper=Business Standard }}</ref> He came from a [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] [[Hindu]] family of the [[Baniya]] caste.<ref name="Open_2014_Mind" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/i-am-a-hindu-vaishnav-not-jain-amit-shah-1833945|title="I Am A Hindu Vaishnav, Not Jain": Amit Shah|website=NDTV.com|access-date=22 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|quote=Amit Shah, himself a baniya |url=https://www.newsclick.in/amit-shah-borrowed-phrase-jinnah-when-he-dubbed-gandhi-chatur-bania|first=Shamsul|last=Islam|date=14 June 2017|publisher=Newsclick|title=Amit Shah Borrowed a Phrase from Jinnah when he Dubbed Gandhi a 'Chatur Bania'}}</ref> His great grandfather was the Nagarseth (Capital city chief) of the small [[Mansa, Gujarat#History|state of Mansa]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/amit-shah-the-strategist-of-bjp-s-india-game-plan/story-Fr0sSiYHtTwhVxKBsjapsI.html|title=The 'Shah' of BJP's game plan who wants to alter India's political culture|date=16 July 2016|website=Hindustan Times|access-date=22 December 2019}}</ref> His father, Anil Chandra Shah, a businessman from [[Mansa, Gujarat|Mansa]], owned a successful [[polyvinyl chloride|PVC]] [[plastic pipework|pipe]] business.<ref name="Caravan_Organiser_2014" /> He went to school in [[Mehsana]] and moved to [[Ahmedabad]] to study [[biochemistry]] at CU Shah Science College. He graduated with a BSc degree in biochemistry and then worked for his father's business.<ref name="Caravan_Organiser_2014" /> He also worked as a stockbroker and in co-operative banks in Ahmedabad.<ref name="rediff_2010_fall">{{cite news |url=http://news.rediff.com/special/2010/jul/24/what-amit-shahs-fall-really-means.htm |title=What Amit Shah's fall really means |author=Sheela Bhatt |work=Rediff.com |date=28 July 2010 }}</ref>

Shah started his political career as a leader of the student wing of the RSS, the [[Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad]], in 1983.<ref name="Open_2014_Mind" /><ref name="NDTV_2013_who">{{cite news |title = Who is Amit Shah? |url=https://www.ndtv.com/people/who-is-amit-shah-525154 |publisher=NDTV |date=12 June 2013}}</ref> He joined BJP in 1987, one year before Modi joined the party.<ref name="Caravan_Organiser_2014" /> He became an activist of the BJP's youth wing, [[Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha]] (BJYM), in 1987. He gradually rose in the BJYM hierarchy, in which he held various posts including ward secretary, [[taluka]] secretary, state secretary, vice-president and general secretary.<ref name="Open_2014_Mind" /> He became known for his management skills when he was the election campaign manager for [[Lal Krishna Advani]] in Gandhinagar during the [[1991 Indian general election|1991 Lok Sabha elections]].<ref name="IE_2014_prepares" /><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bjp-union-home-ministry-amit-shah-1539468-2019-05-31 | title=From sticking bills for BJP to managing Union home ministry: Rise and rise of Amit Shah | work=India Today | first=Prabhash K |last=Dutta | date=31 May 2019 | access-date=16 June 2019}}</ref>

In 1995, the BJP formed its first government in [[Gujarat]], with [[Keshubhai Patel]] as Chief Minister. At that time, the [[Indian National Congress]], the BJP's main rival, was highly influential in rural Gujarat. Modi and Shah worked together to eliminate Congress in the rural areas. Their strategy was to find the second-most influential leader in every village and get them to join the BJP. They created a network of 8,000 influential rural leaders who had lost elections to the ''pradhan'' (village chief) post in various villages.<ref name="Open_2014_Mind" />

=== Uttar Pradesh general elections ===

== President of the BJP (2014 {{endash}} 2019) ==

Shah led the BJP to victory in the 2019 Indian general election; he became the most successful BJP president.<ref name="ET_most_successful" /> During the election campaign, he visited 312 of the 543 [[List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha|Lok Sabha constituencies]], holding 18 roadshows, 161 public meetings and over 1,500 BJP meetings.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.livemint.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections/legwork-foot-soldiers-and-focus-on-its-social-schemes-behind-bjp-s-success-1558637200733.html |title=Legwork, foot soldiers and focus on its social schemes behind BJP's success |last=Verma |first=Gyan |work=Mint |date=24 May 2019 |access-date=13 February 2021}}</ref> Shah had given BJP workers a seemingly audacious target of crossing 300 seats (Ab ki Baar 300 paar) an initiative he called “Mission 300 Par”.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/second-to-none-amit-shah-political-engine |title=Second to None: Amit Shah's Political Engine|last1=Singh |first1=Akshay Pratap |last2=Gaur |first2=Gaur |newspaper= Quint |date=30 May 2019 |access-date=13 February 2021}}</ref> The mission was accomplished under his leadership as party president cementing BJP undisputed king of India's political terrain.

He is an admirer of Chanakya and often referred to as a modern-day [[Chanakya]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/amit-shah-bjp-s-chanakya-strategised-modi-wave-2-0-1532943-2019-05-23|title=Amit Shah: BJP's Chanakya who strategised and delivered Modi wave 2.0|date=23 May 2019|work=India Today|access-date=22 December 2019}}</ref> who had skilfully replaced the [[Nanda dynasty]] by the young [[Chandragupta Maurya]]. Responding to questions about a portrait of Chanakya at his New Delhi residence in 2016, he said: "[I admire] Chanakya because he was knowledgeable. His sutras are eternal. Economics, politics, and the problem of governance are all there.” The [[Bhagavata Purana]] is another of his favourite books, which he studied when he was in prison in 2010 in connection with the [[death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh]].<ref name="auto" />

== Union Cabinet Minister ==

== Hindutva and religious polarisation ==