NEW DELHI: Amit Shah, now in his second term as the Home Minister of India, has yet to embark on any official foreign tour, underscoring his significance in the domestic functioning of the government, alongside his focus on the BJP’s affairs and growth.
His tenure is particularly notable not just for the absence of foreign tours but also for its length. Shah has served as Home Minister for five years and three months, making him one of the longest-serving Home Ministers in India’s history. His tenure is surpassed only by L.K. Advani, who held the position for six years and 64 days, from March 1998 to May 2004, and Gobind Ballabh Pant, who served for six years and 56 days from January 1955 to March 1961.
It is expected that, given the trust he enjoys from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which also allows the PM the flexibility to focus on foreign issues and visits, Shah will become the longest-serving Home Minister of India next year.
His predecessor and current Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, who served as the Home Minister during the Modi-I tenure, made multiple foreign visits while handling the ministry. In his first nine months after taking oath, Singh visited three different countries.
Party sources indicate that given PM Modi’s focus on augmenting the strength of the External Affairs Minister to improve India’s ties with other countries by using his own personal rapport with world leaders, the PM often needs to go abroad. In such situations, it is Shah, who has been with the PM for more than four decades, who efficiently manages the administration.
According to a retired Ministry of Home Affairs official, who was recently in a sensitive position, given the challenges India faces regarding internal security—ranging from managing law and order, and disinformation campaigns from both allies and adversaries, to implementing significant policy changes—Shah, as Home Minister, has to deal with multiple issues that require swift decisions, hence it should come as no surprise that his presence is mostly needed within the country’s borders.
The official mentioned about the significant action oriented steps that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has taken to tackle Naxalism. This year, more than 145 Naxals have been killed in Bastar alone due to HM Shah’s constant focus and intervention on this matter as he wants Naxalism to be eradicated from the country by 2026.
It is under his direction that the government executed the high profile policy decision of abrogation of Article 370 from Kashmir, without any violence and was also able to successfully do the consecration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Incidentally, after October 2010, when he was asked to stay out of Gujarat by a Supreme Court judgment, Shah, along with his wife, visited all 12 Jyotirlingas—shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, one of the main deities in Hinduism—while travelling from one place to another by train. An ardent follower of Lord Shiva, he prefers to practice his religious beliefs privately.
According to a diplomat from a Western country, HM Shah is regarded by the diplomatic community in New Delhi as someone who has the eyes and ears of the PM, and whose promises can be taken at face value and with the belief that they will be kept—unlike with other leaders.
While speaking to The Sunday Guardian, a close associate of a senior state-level leader, who has recently been given a prominent post, recalled that three years ago, the said state leader was in contention for the same post, but it was given to another party leader. At the time, Amit Shah had assured him that the next time he would ensure the post was given to him. Shah fulfilled this promise when the vacancy arose recently, without the leader needing to remind him of it.