FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
India’s powerful Ministry of Home Affairs can often be like a mirage. One that promises shimmering visions of fame and power but which in reality hides a minefield. One misstep can result in catastrophe. North Block holds within it a graveyard of political reputations.
L.K. Advani demitted office in 2004 after failing to live up to the hype of being another Sardar Patel. Shivraj Patil was sacked for inaction during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. His replacement, P. Chidambaram, opted to return to the finance ministry after Maoist attacks on security forces worsened.
We now have in Amit Shah a personification of the power of the home ministry. Shah is better known for transforming the BJP into an electoral juggernaut. In 2017, I described him as ‘the most politically astute, ruthless, result-oriented and hardworking Indian politician
I had ever met’. The BJP’s landslide in the 2019 Lok Sabha election has vindicated this perception.
The question now is whether Shah can use his acumen to deliver results in this sensitive ministry. The choice of Shah as home minister and his effectively becoming the new number two in government is interesting because it reflects the priorities in the party’s agenda. National security was topmost among them in the BJP’s election manifesto and Shah fits into Modi’s new security matrix comprising National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
Shah in particular will have to attend to some unfinished business from the BJP’s first term, notably in dealing with the problem of Jammu and Kashmir.
Among his main concerns—after overseeing the Amarnath Yatra and elections to the state assembly—is what to do with Articles 370 and 35A. Will the government risk the backlash from abrogating the articles, which grant special status to the state and its residents, or
will it find a way around the issue?
Then there is the long-simmering issue of Maoists in central India who, despite their shrinking sanctuaries, have proved to be resilient foes. The government also wants to push the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which grants citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs from neighbouring countries. Shah has, in the past, held controversial views on the identification and deportation of illegal immigrants. The BJP has promised to implement a Uniform Civil Code and abide by the Supreme Court-monitored resolution of the Ram temple issue. All of these concerns are within the ambit of Shah’s ministry.
There is still no clarity on who will succeed Shah as BJP president. Assembly elections are due in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Delhi in the coming months. If Shah follows his party’s ‘one man, one post’ norm, he could make way for another incumbent, who will have enormous shoes to fill.
Our cover story,
Mr. Tough, written by Deputy Editor Uday Mahurkar, who has known Shah for close to 25 years, examines the evolution of his brand of muscular nationalism and what it means for this vital ministry. The actions of his ministry more than any other ministry will set the tone and tenor of Modi 2.0.
Both Modi and Shah venerate the home ministry’s first occupant, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a statesman from Gujarat remembered for his role as a political integrator, integrating 565 diverse princely states into the newly independent nation. It is a towering legacy Shah will have to emulate.
(Aroon Purie)