The Perfect Role For Amit Shah

Roosevelt had Harry Hopkins. Churchill had Branden Bracken. De Gaulle had Gaston Palewski. Clinton had Dick Morris. Bush had Karl Rove. Even Manmohan Singh had Pawan Bansal. Men in power have enemies who need to be watched. Political leaders may not have mortal enemies but they do have rivals and competing power centers. Therefore every leader needs a right hand man – a man who would look out for his boss’ interests, preferable from behind the scene or from a low key post. This someone should be a movable piece with enormous value– a wildcard (poker), a trump card or a blank slate (scrabble). Proximity to the boss gives this man a lot of power.

Bhai Narendra Modi has moved from the safe confines of Gujarat to the slimy world of Delhi brand politics. To say that he has enemies is an understatement. His style of functioning (strong and decisive) makes the insiders and the Delhi schmoozer very nervous. He needs his own right hand man. There is only one man who fits that role and that is Amit Shah. Amit Shah has been a Hanuman to Modi’s Ram all these years. He is also an administrator extraordinaire as we have seen from the results of the past elections. To fix a role for Shah will be a disservice to the man’s talents and to Modi’s interests. If Shah becomes a minister then he gets tied in the ministerial works. He will not be able to look after party’s interests in the states. If he is made a Chief Minister somewhere then it is again a great disservice to his talents. If he is made the BJP chief, he will do well and win a lot of elections as he did in UP. But then he will be forced to stay out of the functioning of the central government. So what role should he be given?

The best role for him will be akin to that of the American Chief of Staff. In the US such a person is a cabinet rank person with close proximity to the President and ability to enforce the President’s agenda in all the departments. Shah could be appointed to the PMO with a minister level position. There he will be Modi’s point person is enforcement of his plans, tactical and strategic. Since he will not be in charge of any portfolio, he will have the freedom to go and work with the state level leaders of BJP and help them with elections. For example in UP, Shah has already established a winning formula and procedure to implement it. He does not need to be in UP all the time. He can appoint trusted people in the next UP elections and affect the same results. The same can be the case with Maharashtra or anywhere. In the PMO he can keep an eye on the functioning of the various ministries which are now being run by Modi supporters as well as erstwhile Modi baiters (like Swaraj). He can also ensure that the consummate Delhi insiders like Arun Jaitley stay the course and do personal favors for friends in Congress.

Shah has been a bête noire of the Indian left. They treat him like a mob enforcer rather than a political genius. That is their problem if they can’t handle the truth. He clearly is a man who is not given to political niceties and does what is necessary for the implementation of his Boss’ agenda. Since the country has elected Modi on development agenda, it is necessary that the focus of the administration does not get diverted. We need him in the shadows. He has to be Modi’s man Friday.