Amit Shah: Modern-day Chanakya who helped BJP expand exponentially

Jagat Prakash Nadda took over as the new BJP President after being elected unopposed at the party HQs on Monday. He took over the reins from Amit Shah, under whose stewardship the party scaled up new heights and became the world’s largest political party.

It was because of Amit Shah’s master strategy, consistent & concerted poll strategy and calculated risk-taking ability that the party expanded its footprints across the length and breadth of country. In 2017, the party achieved an unprecedented feat as the BJP-led governments controlled 70% of the country’s landmass.

Shah’s tenure saw many firsts for BJP

Amit Shah was appointed party president in 2014 after incumbent party chief Rajnath Singh was elevated to Union Home Minister. Later on January 24, 2016, he was given a full-term as the party president.

Today, as he steps down, keeping in line with party’s tradition of ‘one person one post’, one gets to see many unprecedented feats and achievements during Amit Shah’s tenure.

It was Shah who launched ambitious mega enrolment plan, making BJP the largest political party in the world. It was during his tenure that the party’s footprints grew manifold and the party sent maximum numbers of lawmakers to the Parliament. It was under his stellar leadership, the party which didn’t even exist in North-East, commanded majority in a couple of N-E states.

In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged Shah’s contribution during Nadda’s coronation as party chief.

“I do not think words can do justice to the rich contribution of Amit Shah ji. During his presidency, BJP got opportunities to serve in several parts of India. We also got our highest tally in Parliamentary election. He is an excellent Karyakarta,” said PM Modi.

Debacle, then revival

Soon after Amit Shah taking charge as party president for the full term, BJP faced disastrous defeat in Delhi and Bihar, at the hands of Arvind Kejriwal and Mahagathbandhan respectively.

It was apparently after this electoral setback, Amit Shah suggested Sangh-style door-to-door contact programme and launched a massive reach out at grassroots level. The ambitious membership drive turned out to huge success and the number of party members catapulted from 20 million to nearly 100 million by 2019.

Micro-managing elections yielded results

Shah sent out a clear message to the cadre, underlining the need to win every election – from Panchayat to Parliamentary polls. Grassroots workers and volunteers were given charge of mobilizing support by impressing upon the people about govt’s welfare policies. ‘Panna Pramukh’ was a novel idea which apparently worked out well.

Amit Shah himself was batting from the front foot. He not only formulated backroom strategy but also took the lead in addressing poll gatherings and mobilizing support for the party. His political astuteness combined with huge reserves of energy ensured that the party went on a winning spree and formed governments in states, one after the other.

Another debated topic was Shah’s unorthodox choice of leaders, something which garnered much attention in 2019 also after losses in Haryana & Maharashtra. The party chose a non-Jat leader for Haryana, non-Maratha leader for Maharashtra and also a coalition govt with ideological rival PDP. All this on the premise that it will strengthen party and infuse energy in cadre, in fact, the strategy worked out well.

Making inroads in South, Pan-India expansion

Prior to Amit Shah’s tenure, BJP was perceived and identified as the party of Hindi heartland, restricted to mainly Hindi-speaking belts. However, under Amit Shah’s guidance, the party made significant inroads into Southern India, challenged the ‘dictatorial’ TMC regime and threw the Left out of power from Tripura.

Shah’s insistence on party’s pan-India presence did wonders. The party set up its base in almost every district. He took the lead in taking on Kerala government and persuaded other Central leaders to visit the Left-ruled states. Party cadres and workers were enthused with new leadership and went extra-mile to carve a space for the party in the political arena.

Shah’s tenure also saw BJP decimating the Left regime in Tripura and emerging as direct challenger to TMC in West Bengal. In Left & TMC dominated state, BJP figure rising from 0 to 18 LS seats is no less than an exceptional feat.

Behind such spectacular election results, lies Amit Shah’s unrelenting enthusiasm and huge reserves of energy.

Writers Anirban Ganguly and Shiwanand Dwivedi rightly sum up in their book, “In his quest for expanding BJP’s footprint, Shah covered more than 7,90,000 km between August 2014 and September 2018 undertaking major outreach programmes.”