Amit Shah occupies North Block; takes charge as HM

New Delhi: New entrant to the North Block, Amit Shah took charge on Saturday as Home Minister in the Modi government. Nityanand Rai and G Kishan Reddy, who have been named the Ministers of State in the Home Ministry, were with him.

The ministers of state presented bouquets and shawl to Shah. The two ministers also took charge of their office later.

Inducted into the government, Shah will be part of the elite group of ministers in the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) comprising the four ministers of Home, Defence, Finance and External Affairs besides the Prime Minister.

Referred to as 'Chanakya' of modern-day politics for his organisational abilities that were marked by series of successes in the elections as BJP president, Shah's entry into the North Block gets a profile commensurate with challenges like terrorism, Maoist violence and the problems in Kashmir.

Replacing another heavyweight Rajnath Singh in the ministry, the BJP president will have to address issues like scrapping the special status of Kashmir under Article 370 of the constitution, an issue dear to the party and the Sangh parivar for long and a promise included in the manifesto during the recent elections.

Shah's first responsibility will be to ensure that Pulwama like attacks on security forces or on civilians, especially in Jammu and Kashmir, do not take place for which he has to take steps to revitalize the security establishment.

The other major issue that will come up for review in the Home Ministry will be whether to continue with the muscular anti-terror policy being pursued in Kashmir and whether the government would give an opportunity for internal dialogue with various stakeholders in the troubled state.

The BJP and Shah, in particular, had also been campaigning for National Register of Citizens throughout the country.

Shah brings with him a vast experience in the political arena. He was party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh in 2014 and helped BJP and its allies win 73 out of 80 seats.

In 2019 too, Shah managed BJP's election campaign and also rigorously campaigned at the same time, which lead the party winning 303 seats. BJP became the first party in India, since 1971, to return with full majority.