NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday while acknowledging union minister Amit Shah as the country’s longest serving home minister, said this was just “the beginning” for him, setting off speculation in the Bharatiya Janata Party that the endorsement was not just appreciation but an indication of a bigger role for the 60-year-old lawmaker from Gujarat.
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Addressing MPs at the NDA parliamentary party meeting, Modi referred to Shah and said he had surpassed the tenure of LK Advani who was previously the longest-serving home minister. “Yeh to abhi shuruwat hai…abhi aur aage jaana hai (This is just the beginning… he has a long way to go),” a person privy to the meeting quoted the PM as saying.
While Advani served as home minister from March 1998 to May 2004, becoming the minister to hold the position for the longest continuous period, Shah who was appointed in May 2019 has surpassed his tenure.
“With 2,258 days in office, he has now surpassed Lal Krishna Advani’s tenure of 2,256 days as Home Minister. Before them, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first Home Minister, served for 1,218 days. Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s tenure has been marked by bold, historic decisions – from the abrogation of Article 370 to a firm crackdown on terrorism and strengthening of internal security,” the BJP said in a post on X.
A senior BJP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the PM’s statement can be interpreted as a reinforcement of the close ties between the two and also suggests a clarity in party hierarchy. “There is a section of people who have been speculating about some issues including the hierarchy …but the PM’s statement seems to have put that perception to rest,” the leader said.
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A long-time confidant of the PM, Shah worked closely with Modi in Gujarat; and ran the BJP’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 general elections. The party won 71 of the 80 seats in the state, and Shah was widely feted for his social engineering skills; the same year he was appointed as the party chief , replacing Rajnath Singh, who was elevated as the union home minister.
“The PM’s endorsement is a recognition of his (Shah’s) capacity and capability. As home minister he is credited with reducing left wing extremism, clamping down on terror financing, and has been at the forefront of pushing for the ideological concerns such as the Abrogation of Article 370 (from Jammu and Kashmir), Unified Civil Code…he is rooted in the Sangh’s ideology and pragmatic in his political decision making,” said a second senior party leader, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Hailing Shah, the PM at the meeting said, he is confident that LWE would end by 2026.
In 2017, Shah’s organisational skills and adroit election planning saw the BJP come back to power in Uttar Pradesh after 14 years and the set stage of the party’s expansion, both in terms of members as well as its presence across the country, winning in states such as Assam, Manipur, and Tripura, regions the party had previously been unable to breach.
As home minister he has steered key bills, including the 2019 one that effectively abrogated Article 370, through Parliament.
The PM’s statement set off a flurry of congratulatory messages on social media from the party leaders.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju in a post on ‘X’ said, “Heartfelt congratulations to Shri @amitshah ji on becoming the longest-serving Union Home Minister in India’s history. His unwavering resolve, from the abrogation of Article 370 to the firm stand against terrorism, continues to shape New India. Wishing him continued strength in building #viskitbharat.”
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