Amit Shah: India’s Longest-Serving Home Minister and His Legacy of Resilience and Reform

Mukesh Arora

The Union Home Minister Amit Shah scripted history on August 5, 2025. By completing 2,258 days in office, he became India’s longest-serving Home Minister, surpassing L K Advani’s tenure. However, the true measure of Shah’s tenure lies in the mark it made on India’s internal security architecture. His legacy is one of integration, resilience and reform, a legacy designed to safeguard the nation today and define its future for decades ahead.

The defining moment came just seventy days into Amit Shah’s tenure with the historic abrogation of Article 370. What had been described as a ‘temporary provision’ was dissolved in one stroke.  Shah spearheaded the legislative and strategic groundwork for integrating Jammu & Kashmir into the Union. For him, it was more than a mere legal correction; it was an assertion of ‘One Flag, One Prime Minister, One Constitution.’ The aftermath of this decisive step was striking as terror incidents fell by nearly 70 per cent, stone-pelting disappeared from the valley and a new chapter of stability took root in the region.

Through tireless efforts towards the vision of ‘Naya Kashmir,’ Shah has led a transformation where the surge in tourism and agriculture signals that a region once known for unrest is now charting a path to peace and progress.

In parallel, the Modi government has adopted a ‘zero-tolerance’ stance on terrorism, ensuring that threats are confronted at their roots. A decisive example came in September 2022, when the Popular Front of India (PFI) was outlawed under the UAPA for its role in radicalisation and terror financing. The crackdown afterwards effectively dismantled the organisation’s network. Under Shah, internal security transitioned into a long-horizon disruption of terror and insurgent networks.

For decades, the Maoist insurgency was described as India’s gravest internal security threat. It is under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership and Amit Shah’s strategic excellence that left-wing extremism has been reduced to only a few shrinking pockets. Amit Shah has set a clear deadline of March 31, 2026, for its eradication. The results of this resolve are already visible. Naxal-affected districts have reduced from 126 in 2014, of which 35 were severely impacted, to only 18 in 2025. More than 1,000 Naxal leaders have been neutralised, and thousands of cadres have surrendered. Areas once labeled ‘red zones’ now have access to roads, mobile towers and recruitment drives. By combining security operations with development outreach, Shah has ultimately pushed the insurgency to the brink of extinction.

But perhaps Amit Shah’s most enduring legacy lies not in battles fought, but in systems he built. Shah’s most structural intervention came in the domain of criminal law, where he led the replacement of India’s colonial-era codes with a new legal framework. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (which replaced the Indian Penal Code, CrPC, and the Evidence Act of 1872) came into force on July 1, 2024. Collectively, these laws brought far-reaching changes: forensic evidence made mandatory in serious offenses, the provision of e-FIRs for swift reporting, a sharper focus on crimes against women and children, and the repeal of the archaic sedition law.

Amit Shah has also given legislative shape to India’s civilizational ethos through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), offering refuge to persecuted minorities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Parsis from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. For many, the law stands as a moral commitment that India will remain a sanctuary for those denied dignity and rights in their homelands.  By distinguishing genuine refugees from illegal immigrants, the law aligns with India’s ethos of inclusivity while strengthening national security.

Shah’s vision of security goes beyond borders and battlefields. He has broadened the idea of security to include new-age threats like cyber fraud, narco-terrorism and drone warfare. By pushing agencies toward a multi-dimensional approach, he has placed cybersecurity at the heart of India’s internal security doctrine. His approach has been holistic, ensuring that India is safeguarded on every front, today and for the future.

A number of other landmarks have been reached in the Northeast, a region long marred by insurgency and neglect, which is now poised for development and integration. By combining firm security measures with proactive governance, Amit Shah has set the region on a steady trajectory of growth. Over 12 peace agreements were signed in six years, persuading more than 10,000 insurgents to surrender arms. It is because of Amit Shah’s decisive policies that several insurgent groups laid down weapons, clearing the path for integration and development in the region. The measured rollback of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act reflected the restoration of normalcy while the region moved from decades of turbulence towards a future defined by peace and growth.

Often hailed as a modern-day ‘Chanakya,’ Amit Shah is not only a master strategist but also a decisive executor and dynamic administrator. His tenure has addressed India’s most entrenched security challenges while simultaneously cementing a framework that will guide future decades. From Kashmir’s valleys to the forests of Bastar, from the peace tables of the Northeast to the cyber labs of Delhi, Amit Shah’s imprint is unmistakable. His tenure as the Home Minister is not merely a record of longevity but that of legacy: a legacy of integration, firm resolve, and reform. 

(The author is an assistant professor at Jindal Global Law School, O P Jindal Global University. He holds a B BA LL B (Hons) and an LL.M. from Queen Mary University of London. Views expressed are personal)