Amit Shah unlikely to contest Guj Assembly polls

Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President and legislator from Naranpura constituency in Ahmedabad is unlikely to contest the upcoming Assembly polls in Gujarat to be held by the end of this year.

This is being seen by many as a message from the party supremo that he is above state politics and that he would focus his energies on national politics and party's Mission 2019 to come back to power at the Centre. “He may instead contest Parliamentary polls in 2019 and join Modi’s Cabinet as Number 2, as he was in Gujarat when Modi was state chief minister,” a senior BJP member said. He even went on to extent of saying that if PM Modi decides to hang his boots in 2024 on attaining the age of 75 years, Shah may emerge as a strong successor then. “Now it does not augur well for a leader of national stature to contest Assembly polls anymore. Moreover, he has his man Vijay Rupani in place and gets things done as per his wishes.”

The 53-year-old Shah has been legislator since last five terms and represented Sarkhej constituency of Ahmedabad in the state Assembly between 1997 and 2012. In 2012, he shifted his constituency to Naranpura and won by a margin of over 30,000 votes.

There have also been rumours in the state capital that Shah may also decide to go to Upper House of the Parliament from the state, as Gujarat is likely to elect three members to Rajya Sabha soon after Presidential polls. While Union Minister Smriti Irani is set to corner one of the two seats BJP can win, the other seat may see Shah as the candidate. “It would be the best thing to happen as it may upset the applecart of Congress, which is hoping to send its old hand Ahmed Patel on the third seat. Shah’s presence can create a flutter and if he wins over Shankarsinh, the contest to RS polls could become interesting and have a major impact on state polls,” another senior BJP leader said.

The move is also being seen as a message by BJP president that his trusted aide and current chief minister Vijay Rupani would continue to be firmly in the saddle during the elections. “The party chief may have given us a target of winning 150 of 182 seats but he too knows that with Patels, Dalits, OBCs, farmers and even traders rising on several issues, it is better to stay a notch above state polity back home,” BJP observer said.