MODI'S 2.0 ENTOURAGE

Rajnath Singh

A former RSS activist who was the Home Minister in Narendra Modi's first stint as Prime Minister, Rajnath Singh is popular in the BJP ranks and headed the party before Amit Shah took charge. An amiable politician who has friends in almost all political parties, it was when he headed the Home Ministry that the government launched a major crackdown on the Maoists and other insurgents. He gave a free hand to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take into custody several key separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir.

Born on July 10, 1951 into a farmer's family in then Varanasi's Babhora village, Rajnath Singh joined the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in 1964 at age 13. He was with the RSS even when he was a lecturer in the K.B. Post Graduate College at Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. Singh started his political career as Organisational Secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) Gorakhpur division, holding the post from 1969 to 1971.

In 1972, he became the RSS General Secretary of Mirzapur and then entered active politics in 1974. He became the District President of Jana Sangh and a key figure in the JP Movement that shook then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was elected as an MLA in Uttar Pradesh in 1977. He became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1994 and the Chief Whip of the party in the Upper House.

On November 22, 1999, he was inducted into the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government as the Union Surface Transport Minister. During this period he initiated the NHDP (National Highway Development Programme), a dream project of Vajpayee. Rajnath Singh became the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister from 2000 and after two years served as the Agriculture Minister in Vajpayee's Cabinet between 2003 and 2004. He was the President of the BJP before Amit Shah took charge in 2014. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Singh retained the Lucknow seat by defeating his nearest rival Poonam Sinha of the Samajwadi Party. (IANS)

Amit Shah

After a most successful stint as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President, Amit Shah, called the "Chanakya" of modern day Indian politics, on Thursday joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shah is most likely to be given the Finance portfolio, which was earlier with Arun Jaitley, who on Wednesday urged Modi to keep him out ot the ministry on health grounds. After Modi, Shah was the man who built the party's campaign systematically around the nationalism plank and the Prime Minister's popularity.

File photo

Shah, who was in election mode since becoming the party President in 2014, has been rewarded by Modi after the BJP registered a spectacular win in the Lok Sabha elections bagging 303 seats on its own. Though Shah entered national politics in 2013, his organisational training and extensive travel across India helped him learn the finer points of cow belt politics. In no time in Uttar Pradesh, Shah transformed the profile of the BJP, which for a long time was seen as a party of forward castes in the state. Both in the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 Assembly elections, Shah first stitched together a strong intra-party caste alliance within BJP's broad political framework in the state. He also strengthened the so-called rainbow coalition by striking a pre-poll alliance with smaller regional outfits.

As the result, the BJP won 71 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 and the party swept a two-third majority in 2017 Assembly polls. He also led the BJP to victory in Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other states. Formerly an MLA from Naranpura in his home state Gujarat, Shah had been elected four times from Sarkhej. Shah became a loyalist of Modi as both were associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since their early age. During his tenure as Minister in Gujarat, Shah held several portfolios including that of transport, police, housing, border security, civil defense, gram rakshak dal, Home Guards, prison, prohibition, excise, law and justice, parliamentary affairs and the coveted Home Ministry. A science graduate, he was active in politics. (IANS)

Nitin Gadkari

A self-made politician-cum-businessman, Nitin J. Gadkari, 62, hails from Nagpur in eastern Maharashtra and started his political career with the ABVP and BJYM wings of the RSS and BJP respectively. An endearing and mild-mannered person adept at winning friends and influencing people, Gadkari joined the BJP and later became a minister in Maharashtra's first opposition saffron-combine Shiv Sena-BJP government headed by Manohar Joshi (1995-1999). Enjoying excellent personal rapport with leaders of all parties, and with his penchant for improving the basic transport infrastructure in the state, he quickly gained prominence and was the moving spirit behind the hundreds of flyovers, roads, state and national highways, including the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

He occupied several positions in Maharashtra, including state BJP president and Leader of the Opposition, but his big moment of responsibility came in 2009, when he was elected the BJP President, a post which he held till 2013. In the first term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gadkari handled crucial and high-visibility infrastructure-related portfolios like Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, etc and made his indelible mark there. (IANS)

Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ravi Shankar Prasad was a key aide to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy L.K. Advani and later a confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who retained him in his cabinet after returning to power in the 2019 polls. The Supreme Court lawyer-turned-politician first shot to fame in the mid-1990s when he pleaded cases against then Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad in the fodder scam. It was Ravi Shankar Prasad and two others who filed a PIL demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation into the scam.

Prasad, 65, termed himself "Patna ka ladka" as he contested Lok Sabha polls - for the first time - from Patna Sahib seat after four terms in the Rajya Sabha. He won with a big margin, defeating actor-turned-politician and sitting MP Shatrughan Sinha, who had switched over to the Congress. Born and brought up in Patna in an educated Kayasth family, he was active in student politics since his days in Patna University. Prasad always had a strong leaning towards right-wing politics since his father Thakur Prasad was a Jan Sangh leader, who played an important role in establishing it in the state. As an ABVP leader, he joined the anti-Emergency agitation on the call by veteran leader Jai Prakash Narayan.

Unlike other RSS leaders, Prasad was fluent in English and it was this that helped to draw Vajpayee and Advani's attention to him as the BJP gained national prominence in the 1990s. Made a member of BJP National Executive, the party's top policymaking body, in 1995, he was inducted into the Vajpayee government in 2001. Made party spokesperson in 2006, he was, for over two decades, the face of the BJP in TV debates. He did not hang up his legal robes, for he appeared as the counsel for "Ram Lalla" (deity) in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit case before the Allahabad High Court. Made a minister in the Modi government when it came to power in 2014, he held various key portfolios including Communications, Information Technology, and Law and Justice. (IANS)

Ram Vilas Paswan

He is an Indian politician, from Bihar and the current Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Paswan is also the president of the Lok Janshakti Party, eight time Lok Sabha member and former Rajya Sabha MP. He started his political career as member of Samyukta Socialist Party and was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1969. Next he joined Lok Dal upon its formation in 1974, and became its general secretary. He opposed the emergency, and was arrested during the period. He entered the Lok Sabha in 1977, as a Janata Party member from Hajipur constituency, was chosen again 1980, 1989, 1996 and 1998,1999,2004, and 2014.

In 2000, he formed the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) as its president. Subsequently, in 2004 he joined the ruling United Progressive Alliance government and remained a Union Minister in Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Steel. He won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, but lost the 2009 elections. After being member of a Rajya Sabha member from 2010 to 2014, he was elected again to the 16th Lok Sabha in the 2014 Indian general election from Hajipur constituency.

Paswan was re-elected to the 9th Lok Sabha in 1989 and was appointed Union Minister of Labour and Welfare in the Vishwanath Pratap Singh government. In 1996 he even led the ruling alliance or Proposition in the Lok Sabha as the Prime Minister was a member of the Rajya Sabha. This was also the year when he first became the Union Railway Minister. He continued to hold that post till 1998. Thereafter, he was the Union Communications Minister from October 1999 to September 2001 when he was shifted to the Coal Ministry, the portfolio he held till April 2002.

In 2000 Paswan broke from the Janata Dal, to form the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). Following the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Paswan joined the United Progressive Alliance government and was made the Union Minister in Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Steel. (IANS)

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Naqvi

Rajya Sabha member Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday took oath as a Union Minister. He was previously the Union Minister of Minority Affairs. Naqvi is among the well-known Muslim leaders of the pro-Hindutva Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As a student leader at the age of 17, Naqvi was an active in politics during the period of Emergency in the mid-1970s and was detained in Naini Central Jail in Maharashtra.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, and subsequently given the post of Minister of State of Information and Broadcasting in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He was given additional charge of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs from 2001 to 2003. From 2003 to 2008, Naqvi served as a member of Haj Committee, and from March 2003 to February 2004, as Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Functioning of Wakf Boards. He became Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs on May 26, 2014 in Narendra Modi government. Later in July 2016, he got independent charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Naqvi was born to A.H. Naqvi and Sakina Begum on October 15, 1957, in Bhadari in Allahabad. He studied arts and mass communications. (IANS)

S Jaishankar

Former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, who played a key role in shaping the foreign policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modis first term, induction in the Council of Ministers marks a recognition of the exceptional work of what he did in the Foreign Ministry. Known for his acumen, sharpness and extraordinary efficiency, the 64-year-old Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer on Thursday took oath as a Cabinet Minister though he is not a member of either House of Parliament. The 1977 batch officer has served in various capacities in the External Affairs Ministry and as India's envoy in key countries like the US and China.

He was the Foreign Secretary from January 2015 to January 2018 and played a key role in shaping Modi's foreign policy during his first term, which saw a significant growth and expansion of India's ties with key countries, particularly the US and the Arab nations. Prior to that, during his tenure as India's Ambassador to the US from September 2013 till taking over as the Foreign Secretary, he played a major role in bringing the US Administration and the Modi government closer. He also planned and executed a highly successful maiden visit of Prime Minister Modi to the US in September 2014 and his landmark address to the Indian diaspora at the Madison Square.

A major highlight of his diplomatic career was his tenure as Joint Secretary in-charge of Americas Division from 2004 to 2007 when he was involved in negotiating the historic Civil Nuclear Agreement. He also led the Indian team of negotiators for the subsequent 123 Agreement with the US, which was linked to the Civil Nuclear deal and concluded in 2009.

Jaishankar, who was honoured with India's fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri in January, also played a key role in improving the defence cooperation between India and the US. Jaishankar's tenure as India's Ambassador to China from 2009 to 2013, which was the longest by any IFS officer, coincided with several major developments in bilateral relations. It was his briefing to the Cabinet Committee on Security in 2010 regarding China's refusal to issue a visa to the Northern Army Commander which led to suspension of Indian defence co-operation with China and military exercises, before the matter was resolved in April 2011. Also in 2010, Jaishankar negotiated an end to the Chinese policy of issuing stapled visas to Indians from Jammu and Kashmir.

Born on January 15, 1955, Jaishankar, son of well known strategic expert K. Subrahmaniam, joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1977. His first posting abroad were as Third and Second Secretary (Political) in Moscow from 1979 to 1981. From 1981 to 1985, he served as under-secretary (Americas) and policy planning in the Ministry of External Affairs. He then spent three years from 1985 to 1988 as First Secretary, handling political affairs at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, followed by two years as First Secretary and political advisor to the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka.

In 1990, Jaishankar became Commercial Counsellor in Budapest. After three years, he returned to India where he served first as director of the East Europe division of the External Affairs Ministry and then as Press Secretary to the President of India. Jaishankar went abroad again - to Tokyo in 1996 as deputy chief of mission. In 2000, he was appointed the Ambassador to Czech Republic and was there till 2004. Jaishankar returned to India where he led the Americas Division in the MEA. After heading the division for three years, he was posted High Commissioner to Singapore in 2007 for two years. (IANS)

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