Last month, Amit Shah became India’s longest-serving Union Home Minister, marking 2,258 days in office and surpassing LK Advani’s record.
Often celebrated as the ruling party’s electoral “Chanakya”, Shah has in parallel emerged as the principal architect of a new internal security order for India. Yet pundits have rarely examined his governance model, which has ushered in a quiet revolution in India’s internal security. Since 2019, his tenure has been defined by bold decisions -- from revoking Jammu & Kashmir’s special status to enacting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) -- that have redefined the Home Ministry’s role in nation-building.
Shah’s contribution toward internal security is most prominent in Jammu & Kashmir. In August 2019, just two months into office, he crafted the abrogation of Article 370 and thus invalidated the special autonomy status of J&K. In a historic development, the region was brought under the complete jurisdiction of the Indian Constitution. In the following years, Kashmir has seen a “dramatic turn-around in law and order, with stone-pelting incidents brought down nearly to zero”. Through the combination of political will and hard security moves, Shah created stability that had been elusive for previous regimes.
He responded likewise toward left-wing extremism. Maoist violence went down by over 80% compared to the 2010 peak, and Maoist-affected districts dwindled down to just a measly 18 up until the year 2025. Strengthening of the security forces under Shah’s leadership eliminated top rebel commanders and ushered in mass surrenders, striking a telling “hammer blow” for the Maoist campaign.
In the decades-long restive Northeast, Shah also pursued peace with similar vigour. Since 2019, the government signed numerous accords with rebel groups, prompting over 10,000 militants to lay down their arms. As a consequence of the settlements, from Assam's Bodo heartland through Tripura's mountains, the region's insurgency-related violence decreased by 71% and civilian murders by 82% compared to 2014. Through the combination of tough crackdowns with negotiations and development, Shah has transformed the Northeast from a bastion of insurgency into an arena of comparative calm. Through all these fronts, his strategy pairs an iron-fist resistance to violence with avenues for reconciliation, a departure from past governments which consistently framed such conflicts as intractable.
A vast majority of Shah’s security dividends were enabled through aggressive legislative action. The abrogation of Article 370 was succeeded by a law reconfiguring J&K as Union Territories, a radical assertion of the jurisdiction of the New Delhi establishment. Similarly, Shah pushed through the legislation of the CAA, 2019, completing a decades-long vow of fast-tracking the citizenry of persecuted minorities. In the teeth of protests, the legislation of the CAA was an example of Shah pushing contentious reforms through with unwavering resolve.
Another milestone is the upgradation of colonial-age criminal laws. During Shah’s stint, Parliament has enacted new codes like the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (upgrading the Indian Penal Code of 1860). These codes have modernised definitions of punishments and crimes, and Shah has challenged the state police to deliver their “transformative impact” through proper enforcement on the ground. This is his paradigm of governance: supplementing law reform with delivery at the ground level.
Shah has also shown a talent for firm executive action against threats. In 2022, he banned the radical group Popular Front of India (PFI) and its sister outfits, neutralising an organisation linked with terrorist violence. The ban followed meticulous countrywide raids that arrested the PFI leadership in one strike. When others were hesitant, Shah “bit the bullet” by banning the PFI, reflecting his zero-tolerance approach toward terrorism and separatism.
In re-imaging the internal security architecture of India, Shah has authored a radically ‘new’ grammar for the Indian state. He champions an integrated conception of security, widening the purview of the Home Ministry beyond emerging threats such as cyber-fraud, narco-terrorism, and threats from drones. He has challenged the agencies to adopt a “multi-dimensional approach” and exploit the use of technology through inter-agency collaboration for preventing these threats.
Shah’s tenure also diverges from his predecessors’ Home Ministers’ in reach and intent. LK Advani’s tenure was known for a hardline approach to terror (e.g., the POTA law), but didn’t essentially alter India’s internal paradigm. P Chidambaram, in the late 2000s, executed incremental reforms after 26/11. Shah, however, has used an iron mandate to bring through transformative reforms once considered impossible. Even PM Modi himself hailed Shah’s tenure for its historical moves such as abrogating Article 370 and the CAA, crediting his “strong political will” in transforming India’s security paradigm. In practice, Shah himself redefined the Home Ministry from being a caretaker ministry to an instrument of national integration and definitive action.
Befitting his stature, Shah also inherits the newly created portfolio of cooperation, thereby becoming India’s first Minister for Cooperation and setting the vast thrust of his mandate. His career as the Home Minister is one of a transformational reformer of India’s internal governance. In six years, he re-balanced the country’s security apparatus, crushing militancy in Kashmir, nearly eradicating Maoist terror, ushering the Northeast into an era of calm, and overhauling the laws that underpin public order. These achievements made India a more harmonious and secure country.
Forever overshadowed by his talent as a political strategist, Shah’s skills as an administrator can no longer be ignored. He has been the architect of a new order of security, one predicated on a muscular state, rule of law, and unapologetic resolve. In reimagining the playbook of internal security, Shah has ensured the Indian state today speaks in a firmer, more determined voice in defending national integrity and public security.
(Views are personal. The author is the founder of The Indian Futures, an independent think-tank and Associate Professor in School of International Studies, JNU; X: @imanishdabhade)