by Sanjay Singh, First Post.com
Amit Shah is the new BJP president. At the age of 49 he will be youngest ever to be appointed to the topmost post of the party. The formalities will be completed at noon today when the BJP’s highest decision making body parliamentary board meets.
“The elevation of Amit Shah signifies the advent of a new era in the BJP”, said a prominent central party office bearer requesting anonymity, given that an official announcement on Shah’s anointment is yet to be made.
The appointment is being hailed as a ‘new era’ not only because it marks a generational in the party or because it marks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s complete domination over both party and government, but also because it marks a total departure from the Vajpayee era.
“His elevation is purely on merit”, said an enthusiastic Shah supporter within the central party set up.
After Atal Behari Vajpayee became Prime Minister in 1998, then president LK Advani who became home minister was succeeded by Kushabhau Thakre, Bangaru Lakshman, Jena Krishnamurthy and Venkaiah Naidu. All these leaders didn’t have any personal electoral profile to boast of. The BJP and the RSS have perhaps learnt from their bitter experience of what followed after six years of Vajpayee rule and the rather indifferent organisational functioning of the party from 1998-2004.
There is no doubt that Amit Shah is Modi’s protégé. But if the run up to the 2014 parliamentary election put Modi on a completely different pedestal as a mass leader, then they also signified the emergence of Amit Shah as a leader, strategist and an organisational man who could deliver over and above what was expected of him.
He orchestrated a sweep in UP, which was instrumental in catapulting the BJP to its final tally of 282 seats. He is admired by party workers and the fact that he considered to be Modi’s eyes and ears is another advantage for him at this stage.
The RSS is a major stakeholder when it comes to the organisational structure of the BJP, particularly the appointment of the party president. This was made very evident when LK Advani was made to relinquish the post in the aftermath of the Jinnah controversy.
While Shah enjoys the goodwill of the Sangh leadership and has worked closely with the Sangh Parivar functionaries during Parliamentary elections in UP, there were some reservations among some sections that it may not very wise to have mentor and protégé at the helm of both government and party.
Incidentally, the new state adopted by Modi and Shah is also the same, UP. But there were other strong arguments, which faoured Shah’s elevation to the hot seat. Shah had proved his credentials as a quiet organisational man who could work with a plan, and take elders and contemporaries along with him. He is also articulate and can thus defend the party on contentious issues.
Shah had clearly emerged to be most suitable candidate for the post, but somebody had to lobby on his behalf with the RSS, sources said. Since Modi’s relationship with him was all too well known, it would have been inappropriate for him to do so. Therefore it was left to Nitin Gadkari to convince the RSS top brass. Gadkari, the former party chief and current union minister continues to enjoy a close personal rapport with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Incumbent party chief Rajnath Singh who had to vacate the post after becoming home minister, was in agreement as well.
It was only incidental that Gadkari who declined to become party chief after the election results were announced has emerged as the unofficial trouble shooter. He is also part of Modi’s three-member informal core group which also comprises Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley. If Rajnath has the distinction of being party president twice, and now leading the party to victory, Gadkari is credited to have brought a new look and feel to both headquarters and outside.
As for the other contender for the post, JP Nadda, it was felt that he could get overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task involved. He of course would be key, perhaps the most prominent general secretary in the new dispensation. The other contender whose name had temporarily gained prominence, OP Mathur, was not considered for long.
The final seal of approval from the RSS was given two days ago. With that came another decision that two of its Pracharak – Ram Madhav, (The RSS media face for a while) and Shiv Praksah (Western UP kshetra Pracharak) would be included in the new team of office bearers. Their exact role will be defined by Shah when he constitutes his team, but they could be made general secretaries. Another young RSS man Murlidhar Rao is already a general secretary. This post is reserved for RSS appointees in any case.
Shah’s rise in Delhi has been phenomenal. He first had to make Delhi his temporary home after he was barred by the Apex Court from entering Gujarat in October 2010 during the pendency of the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
While on bail he used that period of his stay to pick up nuances of national politics and work behind the scenes on various organisational issues without ever coming into the limelight. While he meticulously worked on his defence, he laid his hands on several issues with documentary evidence that came in handy for the party to target the Congress leadership.
The positive turnaround in his fate came after the Supreme Court allowed him to go to Gujarat ahead of assembly elections. During the state elections he played his part as a key strategist. After the election was over, he was made BJP’s national general secretary and later made in-charge of UP. The rest is history.
Shah has no easy road ahead. His big test will come in the next three months when elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand will be held. He has to decide on what has to be done in Delhi and also in two politically volatile states from the BJP’s perspective: Bihar and Uttarakhand.
