Nitin Gadkari, (57) – BJP
Constituency: Nagpur
Ministry of Surface Transport & Shipping Maharashtra Surface Transport & Shipping
Gadkari has made a strong comeback after being forced to quit as BJP president following the Purti controversy . This Lok Sabha election was his first and he showed his electoral muscle by winning Nagpur, that i also the RSS headquarters.
While there was little doubt that a cabinet berth awaited him, the 56-year-old’s equations with Modi have not always been smooth.
Though Gadkari’s stint as BJP president was largely forgettable, he is seen as a taskoriented person. He repeatedly draws attention to his stint as PWD minister in Maharashtra in 1995-96 when he executed the Mumbai-Pune expressway and also earned the nick-name of `flyover man’ for giving Mumbai a series of flyovers. His social leadership/ entrepreneur model has drawn criticism but he professes a belief in Antodaya or welfare humanism.
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