AMIT SHAH JI

Amit Shah was born to Smt. Kusumben and Shri Anilchandra Shah, an affluent Gujarati family in the year 1964 in Mumbai.

He lived and studied in his paternal village Maansa, Gujarat until the age of 16, when upon completion of his school education, his family shifted to Ahmedabad. As a young boy he was always inspired by the stories of the great patriots of the nation and dreamt of working for the progress of the motherland. He was especially inspired and influenced by the nationalist spirit and vision of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) and became its active member in Ahmedabad. This was one act that was to change his life forever and set him on a momentous journey towards the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

After joining the RSS, Amit Bhai worked for the student’s wing of the RSS – the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad for over four years. It was during this period that BJP emerged as the political arm of RSS and Amit Bhai became a member of the party in 1984-85. His first assignment was that of a poll agent at Ahmedabad’s Naranpura ward, followed by secretaryship of the Naranpura ward. Successful completion of these missions earned him the higher responsibilities as National treasurer of BJYM and then as the State secretary and State Vice-President of Gujarat BJP. In these roles, he actively campaigned to expand the base of the young political party.

His abilities to keep his ear to the ground and establish deep and lasting connect with party workers enabled him to hone his organizational capabilities. These abilities came to fore and to the notice of people when as in charge of the Amhedabad city; he successfully handled mass mobilization of people in favour of the Ram Janambhoomi Movement and EktaYatra. The Ram Janambhoomi Movement resulted in a groundswell of support for BJP and drew tremendous response from Gujarat. These mass movements were followed by the Lok Sabha Elections in 1989, wherein he was entrusted with the task of managing the election campaign of BJP’s mass leader Shri L.K. Advani from Ahmedabad constituency. This was an association that would last for over two decades with Amit Bhai formulating electoral strategy for Shri Advani till the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. He was also the election in-charge of former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he contested from Gandhinagar. Amit Bhai had earned a reputation for himself as an astute election manager.

The political upheaval in Gujarat during 1990 overturned established fortunes and BJP emerged as the principal and only opposition party to the Congress in the state. During this time, Amit Bhai, under the able guidance of Shri Narendra Modi the then Gujarat BJP’s Organisation Secretary, initiated and successfully completed the difficult but all important task of documenting party’s primary members across the state. This was a critical first step to garner the party’s strength and electoral prowess. The subsequent electoral victories of the BJP in the state demonstrated the efficacy of harnessing and motivating its party workers in the pursuit of state leadership.

The political upheaval in Gujarat during 1990 overturned established fortunes and BJP emerged as the principal and only opposition party to the Congress in the state. During this time, Amit Bhai, under the able guidance of Shri Narendra Modi the then Gujarat BJP’s Organisation Secretary, initiated and

A key achievement of Amit Bhai’s political career was breaking the stranglehold of the Congress over Gujarat’s cooperative movement, which was a source of electoral strength and influence. In 1998, barring a single Cooperative Bank, all other cooperative institutions were controlled by the Congress. This was set to change as thanks to Amit Bhai’s political acumen and ability to carry people along, BJP started to win elections for cooperative banks, milk dairies, and agriculture market committees. These successive victories established BJP political strength and influence in rural and semi-rural areas. His success though was not limited to electoral affairs. Under his Chairmanship, the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank, the largest district cooperative bank in Asia – turned profitable in just one year. The bank also declared a dividend for the first time in a decade. Given his wide experience, and commendable success, Amit Bhai was made the national convener of BJP’s cooperative committee in 2001.

His abilities to keep his ear to the ground and establish deep and lasting connect with party workers enabled him to hone his organizational capabilities. These abilities came to fore and to the notice of people when as in charge of the Amhedabad city; he successfully handled mass mobilization of people in favour of the Ram Janambhoomi Movement and EktaYatra. The Ram Janambhoomi Movement resulted in a groundswell of support for BJP and drew tremendous response from Gujarat. These mass movements were followed by the Lok Sabha Elections in 1989, wherein he was entrusted with the task of managing the election campaign of BJP’s mass leader Shri L.K. Advani from Ahmedabad constituency. This was an association that would last for over two decades with Amit Bhai formulating electoral strategy for Shri Advani till the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. He was also the election in-charge of former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he contested from Gandhinagar. Amit Bhai had earned a reputation for himself as an astute election manager.