Gujarat's home minister’s not at home!

Can a home minister of a state afford to remain untraceable and incommunicable for several days? Can a home minister who has to monitor law and order situation and who also holds portfolios of legal and defence departments be the same person that the Central Bureau of Investigation is looking for?

Amit Shah created many a records in his not-so-long political career which took off in 1997. After emerging as a powerful player in the Modi government, he climbed the power ladder rather fast as Modi's blue-eyed boy. Probably a record of sorts that just one person was vested charge of three most powerful portfolios — Home, Legal and Border security.

Once Modi's confidante, Shah has suddenly become a big political liability and as of now a crisis. Modi's first crisis was 2002 riots, followed by some not so major embarrassments which he handled rather deftly with his signature stoic silence. Almost magically he turned all the crises into political opportunities to the utter dismay of Congress. His achievements through big-ticket events like Vibrant Gujarat, his re-invention of his image as being pro-development and industry-friendly succeeded in driving attention from 2002 riots blemishes to his success stories of delivering — at least in India Inc.

While he may have overcome the past challenges in a truly Modi-esque fashion, it's unlikely that 'why so much fuss over encounter death of a criminal like Sohrabuddin' and 'political conspiracy' arguments will get him any major mileage outside Gujarat.

However, it will be interesting to hear Modi defend himself as chief minister, unaware of what his key aide was doing. Or why the home minister of his state was dodging a rendezvous with the CBI. More so, with a long list of senior and powerful police officers already behind bars in the same fake encounter case, why was the home minister not sacked long back. 

Despite the massive and unparalleled popularity that Modi enjoys with the masses of Gujarat, which is unlikely to be affected by this case, Amit Shah may once again push him towards being a political pariah in the mainstream politics of Delhi — a fate that Modi worked hard for long years to avoid.