Amit Shah: He is more than just an election machine
On the face of it, BJP president Amit Shah is less flamboyant than some of his illustrious predecessors, yet in terms of delivery of results, he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with them. What sets Shah apart from other politicians? Electoral astuteness is certainly the most critical determinant in his politics but more than that, commitment to ideology (vichardhara), value of workers (karyakarta) and sanctity of workplace (karyalaya) are three of Shah’s key attributes that make him stand out.
When Shah was very young, his parents engaged teachers to ensure that he learnt India’s history. Mahatma Gandhi’s political thought and Bhagwat Puran are two big influences that shaped his thinking early in life from his mother, who was herself a Gandhian. His ideological moorings were reinforced when he joined the RSS and regularly started visiting shakhas. In one such shakha in Naranpura, Ahmedabad, he met his mentor Narendra Modi. He honed his organisational skills under Kushabhau Thakre also with whom he worked for a long time. Himself a booth worker in initial days, he took up the challenging task of registering all BJP workers manually when Narendra Modi was the organisation secretary of Gujarat. Shah continued his focus on streamlining and expanding worker base after taking charge as BJP national president as he embarked upon an ambitious project of making BJP the world’s largest party with more than 11 million members.
A strict vegetarian, Shah is a nonsmoker and a teetotaller. He remembers both friends and adversaries, and knows most party workers by name. He insists that office-bearers sit at the party’s 11 Ashoka Road headquarters. He himself ensures that he spends long hours in his office when he is in Delhi. Probably this is the reason why he has taken up the ambitious project of building BJP offices in all 640 districts of India.
Recently, during a visit to Rohtak, Haryana, while speaking to vistaraks (full-time workers), Shah stunned everyone when he said, “I don’t want you to work if you think you are doing this to win elections or make someone CM or PM. Instead, you should do this to make India Vishva Guru (world leader).” Shah’s commitment to national honour is beyond politics. He personally engaged himself with the Jawaharlal Nehru University controversy after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visited JNU campus in support of those who shouted anti-India slogans.
Shah was born in a prosperous family. His great-grandfather was the nagarseth of a small princely state of Mansa. Even as he grew up in the family haveli, his parents made sure that he does not get accustomed to the comforts of a lavish upbringing. For instance, his sisters used to go to school by a bagghi (horse carriage) but he walked to school. Likewise, while his sisters were served food in silver utensils, he was given food only in brass utensils. His family stayed in a one-room apartment when they moved to Ahmedabad. These experiences imbibed in him the virtues of simplicity early in life, which he brought into his functioning style as a career politician. He never uses chartered flights. He prefers to travel short distances by road instead of helicopter. During his recent visit to Odisha, he travelled over 600 km by road. He prefers to stay in government guest houses instead of star hotels during outstation tours. In many ways, Shah embodies what Chanakya had advised centuries ago, “Politician or ruler addicted to vices cannot accomplish tasks.”
Shah is fond of reading political treatises. He first read Kautilya’s Arthashashtra when he was nine years old. Shah considers Chanakyaniti as the most sacred political manual. For instance, on the issue of secrecy, Chanakya says, “The king shall singly deliberate over secret matters; for ministers have their own ministers, and these latter some of their own; this kind of successive line of ministers tends to the disclosure of counsels.” Shah often says “success of a project depends on its secrecy”. Recent decisions like the presidential candidate and the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh mirror this principle.
Though Shah entered national politics in 2013, his organisational training and extensive travel across India helped him learn the finer points of Cow Belt politics. In no time in UP Shah transformed the profile of BJP, which was for a long time seen as a party of forward castes. Both in the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 Assembly polls, Shah first stitched together a strong intra-party caste alliance within BJP’s broad political framework. He also strengthened the so-called rainbow coalition by striking a pre-poll alliance with smaller regional outfits. UP gave a historic mandate to BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 assembly polls only because of Shah’s astute social engineering and PM Modi’s popularity. It also changed the political narrative in the state from caste to governance.
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Shah doesn’t believe in creating a coterie; rather, he uses every single person in the organisation according to his or her ability. Therefore, it’s not surprising that several people perceived to enjoy his close physical proximity are actually the most disempowered, while some who are never seen around often call the shots on important matters.
Shah has remarkable administrative and governance expertise — a quality that people outside Gujarat do not know much about. As a minister in Gujarat for close to a decade he handled important portfolios like home, panchayati raj, prohibition, transport, etc. His ministerial tenure is remembered for a rich legacy of key initiatives such as fixing accountability of lower bureaucracy in panchayats, modern forensic laboratories, strengthening coastal policing, etc. As party president he reportedly gives critical inputs to Union ministers in his routine interactions with them. Now, as Rajya Sabha member, it is only natural that he makes important contributions in policy-making.
The story of the 53-year old modern-day Chanakya is still unfolding. The country will see many more of his unseen aspects than just an election machine in the coming months and years.
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