<b>Shekhar Gupta:</b> Rise of the party Commissar

After Kamraj, Amit Shah is first truly powerful chief of a ruling party. Cabinet rejig will be proof

The living room in BJP president Amit Shah’s residence has minimalist furnishings, like the homes of old-generation politicians. He speaks to visitors from his favourite spot on the middle sofa, his back to the wall. A visitor notes the two framed portraits on that wall: Chanakya or Kautilya to the left of your eye, and Savarkar to the right. Those two deities determine his politics — Kautilya for political craft, and Savarkar for his ideology Hindutva-nationalism.

Mr Shah could, however, add a third portrait to that wall, ideally in the space between Kautilya and Savarkar. It would have to be