Somethings old, somethings new

syed shahnawaz hussain: as the only muslim bjp member of parliament, syed shahnawaz hussain knows he is important and uses it to get what he wants. the first time mp from kishanganj (bihar) has been moving up the ministerial ladder slowly but surely. starting off as mos in the food processing ministry, the 31-year-old minister soon moved on to sports and youth affairs.as dhindsa's mos, he complained he had no work and was moved to a more high profile ministry ^ mhrd where he was virtually unemployed under joshi. he complained yet again. at the next reshuffle, the muslim card saw him elevated to the rank of mos with independent charge of the coal ministry. but since the bjp still didn't have a muslim cabinet minister, hussain knew he could bargain for more. with up elections round the corner, he could have asked for the moon and got it. rajiv pratap rudy: of late, he's been the most vociferous defender of the bjp, at least on television. his services have not gone unnoticed. his induction into the rank of ministers shows the bjp is after all not a thankless party. rudy, second time mp from chapra (bihar), is not an archetypal bjp man nurtured in the tradition of the rss. his political mentor was chandrashekhar. later he joined the janata dal, but was thrown out by laloo yadav because the erstwhile chief minister couldn't keep pace with him. ``he was talking about buffaloes when i was talking about jets,'' he says. a typical specimen of the new age politician young, articulate, ideologically negotiable and in a hurry to make a mark. karia munda: a veteran of six lok sabhas, karia munda has held a ministerial berth was between 1977 and 79 when he was mos, steel and mines, under the janata regime, and then again in the 1996 13-day vajpayee cabinet. joining the bjp in 1980, he became a member of the party's central working commitee and later graduated to its consultative commitee in the ministry of mines and minerals. but that's how far the adivasi leader could go, till jharkhand happened. the creation of the new state made a difference to his fortunes. though he lost the chief ministership to babulal marandi, he was made state bjp vice-president. in the last reshuffle, munda refused the minister of state berth he was offered. this time the bjp is taking no chances in giving jharkhand its due representation in vajpayee's cabinet. the 60-plus politician who represents khunti lok sabha constituency started his political career with the jp movement and was jailed under misa during the emergency. anna patil: this us-educated 60-plus technocrat-engineer-turned-social worker-turned-politician is just five years old in politics. representing the erandol lok sabha (district jalgaon) constituency, patil's usp is that he represents both the farmer and the industralist lobbies in maharashtra. with his induction, the party hopes to kill two birds with one stone. ashok pradhan: pradhan, who fought his first election on a bjp ticket in 1996, won the lok sabha seat from the khurja reserved constituency in noida in 1998 with a record margin of over two lakh votes. this was his first entry into parliament. a middle-class businessman from a farmer background, pradhan runs a copper wire factory in ghondli, krishna nagar, a trans-yamuna colony in delhi. the 48-year-old first time minister has had a long run as a social worker in delhi and has been an active shakha member since early youth. he is chairman of the jatav mahasangh and has held various positions including that of shahadra zila mantri. ravi shankar prasad: this 46-year-old rajya sabha member from bihar could well be the second arun jaitley of the cabinet. like jaitley, prasad began his political career as a student activist of the abvp (bjp's student wing) and went on to become the first student senator of patna university. like jaitley, prasad too was strongly influenced by jayaprakash narayan and was jailed during the jp movement. also, prasad too is an established advocate of patna high court, known for handling the pil in the fodder scam and bitumen scam that led to the arrest of laloo prasad yadav and others. ``jp, vajpayeeji and advaniji have been the strongest influence on me,'' says the new incumbent. about being chosen as a minister prasad says: ``i have been very vociferous in parliament about various issues, perhaps the pm noticed me because of that.'' vedprakash goyal: sixty-six-year-old rajya sabha mp from maharashtra is supposed to have earned his position in the cabinet because of his closeness to the prime minister. a bjp treasurer since 1986, goyal is currently the chairman of the house committee in the rajya sabha. this industrialist from mumbai has his roots in haryana. an engineering graduate from bhu, goyal has been associated with various committees in parliament from time to time. active in politics since he was a student, goyal joined the bharatiya jana sangh while still in school. he was also an active rss worker in college. interesting, his wife too is rooted in politics. she is currently a mla in maharashtra assembly.