Jaishankar extends birthday wishes to Amit Shah

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday wished Home Minister Amit Shah on his 55th birthday and lauded him from playing an important role in strengthening the country.

"Happy birthday to Union Home Minister and National President Hon. @AmitShah ji. You have played an important role in strengthening India further. Pray to God for your health and longevity," tweeted Jaishankar.

Born in Mumbai in 1964, Shah was brought up at his paternal village in Maansa, Gujarat till the age of 16. He worked for Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of RSS for some time before he joined BJP in 1984-85. There, Shah was noted for his organisational skills and was appointed the national treasurer of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and subsequently the state secretary and state vice-president of the party in Gujarat.

He had handled several key portfolios under Narendra Modi-led government in Gujarat.

Known for his sharp political acumen, Shah took over as the BJP president soon after NDA emerged victorious in 2014 general elections. A trusted lieutenant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was appointed party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh just ahead of the 2014 national elections.

Indeed, as the captain of the winning team, Shah deserves credit for turning the party into an election-winning machine. With one Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls of Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu-Kashmir, Assam, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, his record as the BJP president has been unmatchable.

In May 2019 after BJP received a complete majority in the general election, Shah was sworn in as the home minister in the new cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since then, Shah has led the government in several mammoth decisions including the abrogation of Article 370.