Amit Shah (born Oct 22, 1964) is an Indian politician from Gujarat and the current president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Shah was elected as an MLA from Sarkhej in four consecutive elections: 1997 (bye-election), 1998, 2002 and 2007. He is a close associate of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and held a number portfolios in Government of Gujarat, when Modi was the Chief Minister. In 2010, Shah was accused of orchestrating two fake police encounters, which happened during his tenure as the Gujarat Home Minister. He was forced to resign, and was arrested. Shah maintains that all the accusations against him are false, and are the result of a "witch-hunt" by his political opponents belonging to the Indian National Congress. Shah was later granted bail, on the condition that he will not stay in Gujarat. He was allowed to return to Gujarat in 2012, and won Assembly elections from Naranpura.For the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP made Shah the party's in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, where it had not done well in the past few elections. BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state, registering its best ever performance by winning 71 out of 80 seats. As a result, Shah rose to national prominence and was appointed as the party's President in July 2014.