Amit Shah replacing Advani in Gandhinagar is a big symbolic move by BJP, Modi

Lok Sabha Election: Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded party president Amit Shah from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the seat that has been held by former deputy Prime Minister LK Advani who was a powerful number two for the most parts of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s political career.

Amit Shah replacing an aging Advani may be more than what meets the eye. The move may also establish Amit Shah’s position in the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sangh Parivar, where he is second only to Prime Minister Modi. Mr Shah is one BJP leader who enjoys the full confidence of the Prime Minister.

“Advaniji is our very senior and respectable leader but everyone knows that age is catching up with him. This is an important seat held by him so every worker feels strongly about the seat and there could not be a better person than our party president to get blessing from Advaniji to fight the election from that seat,” said BJP’s national spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam.

The official release communicating the first list of BJP candidates gave ample proof of the new pecking order in the ruling party. The list has names of Prime Minister Modi and party president Amit Shah at the top in bold letters while the names of other party stalwarts like Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari came way below along with other candidates from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively.

It was widely speculated that Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari could be a suitable replacement for Prime Minister Narendra Modi if the party falls short of a clear majority and requires support from such political parties that may not be willing to back Prime Minister Modi for a second term if the party falls short of majority.

Rajnath Singh comes from influential Rajput community which is politically powerful in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Nitin Gadkari, who comes from Nagpur where the RSS headquarter is located, enjoys the blessings of RSS top brass.

However, the ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar‘ campaign started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has seen every BJP leader, MP and MLA adding the prefix ‘Chowkidar‘ in his or her social media profile. The huge support to ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar‘ campaign from the party leaders has reinforced the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah over the party.

It is widely speculated in the party circle that BJP President Amit Shah will be inducted into Modi cabinet if the party wins enough seats to form the the government. In July 2014, Amit Shah was appointed BJP president for the remainder term of the then president Rajnath Singh who demitted the office to join Modi cabinet.

Amit Shah was reelected the BJP President in January 2016 for a full three year term which completed in early this year. According to the party constitution, no party president can have a two consecutive terms and three years term ended in January this year. However, as an interim arrangement the party extended Mr Shah’s tenure for another six months.