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Who is Amit Shah
A businessman-turned-politician and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Amit Shah has been serving as the Union home minister since the second term of the Narendra Modi-led central government. He represents Gandhinagar constituency in Lok Sabha.
Since 1989, Amit Shah has fought 29 elections, including various local body polls, and not lost any to this day. Shah was elected as an MLA from Gujarat’s Sarkhej in four consecutive elections — 1997 (by-election), 1998, 2002 and 2007.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shah contested from Gandhinagar, a seat previously held by BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani and won it comprehensively.
Political career
12th pass Shah has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood. The 59-year-old first met Narendra Modi in 1982 through Ahmedabad RSS circles. During Narendra Modi's 12-year tenure as the Gujarat CM, Shah emerged as one of the most powerful leaders in the state. After winning the 2002 state elections, he became the youngest minister in the Modi-led Gujarat government, and was given multiple portfolios. At one time, he held 12 portfolios — home, law and justice, prison, border security, civil defence, excise, transport, prohibition, home guards, gram rakshak dal, police housing, and legislative and parliamentary affairs.
Known as a master strategist, Shah, along with Modi, assured BJP victories in several state elections after the BJP’s landslide Lok Sabha elections win in 2014. And, they topped up their success with a thumping victory in Lok Sabha elections 2019, in which the BJP saw its biggest individual seat tally ever, of 303. In 2024 Lok Sabha elections also the duo managed to secure a win.
In January 2020, Shah was succeeded as the BJP president by Jagat Prakash Nadda.