Modi's aide Amit Shah likely BJP’s next President

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's close aide and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Amit Shah is expected to be announced as the next party president on Wednesday. Shah, who is credited for the BJP's emphatic performance in Uttar Pradesh during General Elections will
succeed Rajnath Singh, who is now the Home Minister in the NDA government. The party won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.The announcement is likely to be made Wednesday during the BJP's Parliamentary board meeting. With Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Haryana scheduled to go to polls later this year, Shah if elevated to the top post will have a herculean task to bring the BJP into power in all the three states. While Maharashtra and Haryana are being ruled by the Congress, Jharkhand is being governed by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha under the leadership of Hemant Soren.

Known to be a sharp political strategist, the former Gujarat home minister remains Modi's most trusted political aide and master strategist. Shah had served as the home minister of Gujarat when Modi was the chief minister. Shah, who had a plastics and printing business, met Modi in the late 1980s.