Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah today became the longest-serving Union Home Minister of India. He has completed 2,258 days in office, surpassing the previous record held by Lal Krishna Advani, who served for 2,256 days.
He also received praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Parliamentary meeting for becoming the longest-serving Home Minister of the country.
BJP stalwart Lal Krishna Advani had held the position for 2,256 days (from March 19, 1998, to May 22, 2004). In comparison, Amit Shah has been serving as Home Minister since May 30, 2019, and by August 4, 2025, he had completed 2,258 days in office.
Amit Shah assumed the office of Union Home Minister during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second term on May 31, 2019, and served until June 9, 2024. He was reappointed as Home Minister on June 10, 2024, and continues to hold the position. In addition to the Home Ministry, Shah is also the country’s first Minister of Cooperation. Earlier, he served as the Home Minister of Gujarat and also held the position of national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Here’s a list of the longest-serving Home Ministers and their tenure
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the country’s first Home Minister, held the position for 1,218 days and also served as Deputy Prime Minister. Among non-BJP leaders, Govind Ballabh Pant had the longest tenure as Home Minister, serving for 6 years and 56 days. From the BJP, Rajnath Singh served in the role for 5 years and 3 days.
| Home Minister | Tenure |
| Amit Shah | 6 years and 65 days |
| Lal Krishna Advani | 6 years and 64 days |
| Govind Ballabh Pant | 6 years and 56 days |
| Rajnath Singh | 5 years and 3 days |
| Shankarrao Chavan | 4 years and 330 days |
| Shivraj Patil | 4 years and 191 days |
| P Chidambaram | 3 years and 244 days |
| Yashwantrao Chavan | 3 years and 226 days |
| Buta Singh | 3 years and 204 days |
| Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | 3 years and 119 days |
| Gulzarilal Nanda | 3 years and 69 days |
| Kailash Nath Katju | 3 years and 66 days |
From Article 370 to CAA: Key highlights of Amit Shah’s historic tenure
Here are the key highlights of Amit Shah’s historic tenure as Union Home Minister of India (from 2019 onwards):
Abrogation of Article 370: The abrogation of Article 370 stands as perhaps the most defining moment of Amit Shah’s tenure as Union Home Minister. On August 5, 2019, Shah announced in the Rajya Sabha the government’s decision to revoke Article 370, which had granted special autonomous status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Along with this, the state was bifurcated into two separate Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019: Another major milestone of Shah’s tenure as Home Minister was the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019. This law aimed to expedite Indian citizenship for persecuted non-Muslim minorities, specifically Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
Naxalism: Shah’s aggressive policies against left-wing extremism have drastically reduced Naxal violence. Incidents of deaths have dropped from 5,225 between 2009 and 2014 to under 600 between 2019 and 2024. His tenure has also seen a 56% reduction in security personnel casualties from 2015 to 2019 because of left-wing extremism. Shah has vowed to eradicate Naxalism before March 31, 2026, and no citizen of the country has to lose their life due to it. As part of the zero-tolerance policy against Naxalism, 90 Naxals have been killed, 104 arrested, and 164 have surrendered in the year 2025 so far. In 2024, 290 Naxalites were neutralised, 1090 were arrested, and 881 surrendered.
Crackdown on Terrorism: Shah’s zero-tolerance approach towards terrorism has led to a 70 per cent reduction in terror-related deaths in Jammu and Kashmir, along with a noticeable fall in overall terror incidents. The region witnessed an unprecedented rise in tourist visits, which reportedly irked Pakistan. In response, an attack was carried out on innocent tourists in Pahalgam on April 22 in an attempt to disrupt the peace. The law and order situation in the Valley has seen remarkable improvement, with no reported cases of stone pelting in recent times.
Triple Talaq and UCC: Shah also oversaw the abolition of triple talaq and the initiation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
New criminal laws: Amit Shah also played a key role in overhauling India’s criminal justice system by spearheading the introduction of three landmark laws: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) 2023. These replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and Indian Evidence Act, respectively.
Ram Mandir: Amit Shah played a key role in ensuring the peaceful execution of the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute and oversaw the orderly reconstruction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Police Modernisation: He spearheaded the SMART Policing Mission, aimed at enhancing sensitivity, mobility, accountability, and technology within the police force. Significant investments were made in this area, with Rs 8,200 crore allocated between 2019 and 2024, strengthening the country’s internal security setup.
Jammu and Kashmir delimitation: Post the revocation of Article 370, Shah supervised the delimitation process in Jammu and Kashmir, an essential step toward conducting assembly elections in the Union Territory.
NPR and NRC: He pushed for updating the National Population Register (NPR), considered a foundational step toward implementing a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Others: The era of frequent bomb blasts has come to an end, with no major terror attacks reported outside Jammu and Kashmir in recent years. Numerous peace agreements have been signed in the Northeast, bringing an end to several decades-old insurgencies and restoring stability to the region.