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A new political turf for BJP's 'chanakya', Amit Shah enters Rajya Sabha

With the BJP lacking a majority in the upper house, Shah's entry into Rajya Sabha is likely to give a boost to the party.

A new political turf for BJP's 'chanakya', Amit Shah enters Rajya Sabha Photo: PTI

NEW DELHI: The strategy maker behind Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) successes in the recent past, party chief Amit Shah made his debut in Rajya Sabha on Friday. 

He has been allotted a front row seat of the treasury bench and will be seated on the aisle seat right next to the two-seat block were Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sit. The seat was earlier occupied by Venkaiah Naidu who is now the Vice-President of the country.

He was felicitated by BJP members upon his arrival in Parliament on Friday. Members of the treasury benches, including several ministers, stood up to welcome him. Some thumped desks and others clapped as a smiling Shah greeted them with folded hands.

Shah was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in August this year. Modi had then hoped that Shah's presence in the House will help in bringing order among BJP members of the House. 

With the BJP lacking a majority in the upper house, Shah's entry into Rajya Sabha is likely to give a boost to the party. The BJP president has, however, maintained that though he is joining the Rajya Sabha he will not take up any official position in the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Saying that he was "happy" handling party affairs, he asserted there is no question of him quitting as party president to join the Modi cabinet. "I have the responsibility of running the party. I am happy, satisfied and am working wholeheartedly," Shah had said.

Amit Shah had contested on one of the three vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat. Union Minister Smriti Irani and former Balwantsinh Rajput were the two other BJP members to have contested on the vacant seats. Both Shah and Irani easily won the elections bagging 46 votes and 45 votes respectively, Balwantsinh had lost to Congress leader Ahmed Patel.