Amit Shah helms ministers meet, seals number 2 slot

New Delhi: In a clear sign of who is number two in the Narendra Modi government, Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday chaired a meeting of senior Cabinet colleagues to discuss the disruption of crude oil supplies from Iran in view of the new American sanctions and its possible impact on the Indian market.

Apart from the serious discussions on the subject, the big takeaway from the meeting was the strong imprint that Mr Shah left about his authority and stature in the Union Cabinet.

The fact that Mr Shah headed the deliberations sent out a clear signal that he is increasingly going to exercise the powers of a de facto “deputy prime minister” by calling other ministers for meetings at his office — a privilege that is conventionally enjoyed only by the Prime Minister.

While it is common for the government to go into a huddle on crucial issues, what was unusual about the meeting was the fact that the home minister chaired the discussions on issues relating to petroleum, inflation and foreign affairs.

Tuesday’s meeting lasted for over an hour and saw discussions on various aspects related to crude oil imports from Iran and ways to escape the US sanctions.

Among those who attended the meeting were finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar.

Apart from talks on oil imports, Mr Shah had a busy day in office with a detailed presentation given to him on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where the BJP has been pushing for carrying out a delimitation exercise ahead of the state Assembly elections. Sources said that the delimitation exercise in the troubled state was high on the agenda of the ruling BJP as it expects that the redrawn boundaries of Assembly seats will yield rich electoral dividends for the party in the Assembly polls.

During the presentation on Tuesday, the home minister was briefed about security arrangements for the annual Amarnath Yatra, due to begin on July 1, a home ministry official said. Mr Shah is likely to visit the state soon, he said.

Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba and senior Kashmir division officials in the ministry were present at the briefing.