New Delhi:
BJP president Amit Shah, a key architect of his party’s landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections, is the most notable inclusion in the second Modi government, which was sworn in on Thursday.
A confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for over two and a half decades, Shah was also a trusted minister in the Gujarat government headed by Modi as chief minister between 2001-14. He held portfolios, including home, transport, and law and justice in the state.
Shah also made his Lok Sabha debut in 2019 polls, having won with more than five lakh votes from Gandhinagar, a constituency long represented by BJP veteran L K Advani.
Modi’s decision to bring Shah in his cabinet signals that he will now play a crucial role in the government, effectively the go-to man for the prime minister, several party leaders believe.
However, Rajnath Singh will remain officially the number two in the government, as made clear by him being the first minister to take oath after Modi.
For all practical purposes, Shah has been the party’s second most powerful leader after Modi since he became its president in 2014 after the BJP-led NDA assumed power.
