Why BJP Chose Ram Nath Kovind As Presidential Candidate!

Amit Shah is altering India’s political landscape with his secretive masterstrokes

- Pratul Sharma

Monsoon kept its date with Kerala, so did Amit Shah. On June 2, the BJP president checked into the state guest house in Kochi, after flying economy class on a private airline from Delhi, along with general secretary Bhupindra Yadav, party cells coordinator Arvind Menon and IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya.

Shah had decreed that leaders should spend a night wherever they go for party work, but they were barred from using chartered flights or staying in posh hotels during non-election time—a rule that caused heartburn among some leaders of the cash-rich party.

When THE WEEK caught up with Shah on a rainy evening in Kochi, Shah was his usual combative self. Dressed in a white kurta-pyjama, with a scarf around his neck, he was keenly attentive to questions posed to him, despite having a hectic day of meetings.

To understand his political craft, I asked him about his strategic thinking. “Experience is such a subject which has no syllabus,” he said. “One gains by going from village to village, the way I am doing now.” His laughter made it clear that he would not let his secrets out easily.

In his reflective moments, it is said Shah quotes the ancient political thinker Chanakya to explain his methodology to his confidants: “The success of any mission or concept depends on the secrecy maintained around it.”

The stunning effect of that secrecy was on display when Yogi Adityanath was chosen as Uttar Pradesh chief minister in March, disappointing Manoj Sinha, the front runner for the post, who had started visiting temples for thanksgiving. A similar script was played out when Shah loyalist Vijay Rupani was picked as Gujarat chief minister last August, even as state cabinet minister Nitin Patel had started giving interviews as CM probable.