Five young politicians with significant political legacies and fluctuating fortunes have recently ascended to the formidable ranks of debutant ministers in the Modi cabinet. Each of these ministers will navigate the dual challenge of honouring their storied lineage and tackling ministerial responsibilities in a landscape fraught with expectations and scrutiny.
Their journeys, thus far, have been painted with the brushstrokes of triumphs and setbacks. To add to the challenge, each of them is a coalition partner except for one who is with the BJP but is yet to completely shed his Congress skin.
Here's a look at the complexities of their political inheritances and the awaited tests of their mettle.
Chirag Paswan (Minister of Food Processing Industries):
Chirag Paswan’s life has swung from despair to joy. Not too long ago he was trying to cope with the treachery of his uncle Paras. There was footage of him waiting outside Paras’s house to try and quell the rebellion against him. That day he had failed.
But after winning 5 out of 5 in Bihar, and being described as PM Modi’s Hanuman, life has swung the other way for Chirag. Now he is a Cabinet minister. And seen as the newest “Dalit icon” in Bihar, an heir to his father’s legacy.
Chirag not only won from Hajipur (SC) but has also got all the other four seats that his Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) contested.
His father Ram Vilas Paswan, who passed away in 2020, represented Hajipur 8 times. Ram Vilas was genial, accessible, and his biggest gift was his ability to form friendships across party lines.
Chirag knows how to push the right buttons. Without BJP support and then backed by Nitish the 5 out of 5 may not have been possible.
Chirag needs to learn the biggest lesson from his father Ram Vilas: He was known as the great survivor.
Jayant Chaudhary ( Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE):
Lineage is important but if only you can make it count.
I recall Ch. Charan Singh as CM of UP sitting with my grandfather SN Ghosh, who was editor of the Pioneer daily, in Lucknow. Ch Sahab known for being brutally honest, would have these intense chats about cleaning up the system.
Cut to Delhi. As a reporter, I met Charan Singh’s son Ajit Singh many times at his residence. He was suave, and had no qualms partnering with diverse set of leaders like VP Singh, Atal ji, and then the Cong and UPA. While Charan Singh became famous as a prominent Kisan leader who went on to become PM, Ajit Singh frittered away a lot of that gain in western UP.
Now, his son Jayant Chaudhary has aligned with NDA and become a union minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. He is the National Chairman of the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
He is clever. In his speeches he asked farmers to return the favour following the Bharat Ratna being bestowed on Charan Singh. He didn’t chant anti-Muslim rhetoric.
RLD has emerged as the biggest gainer among the BJP allies in U.P. The party has retained the Baghpat seat and has wrested the Bijnor seat from Bahujan Samaj Party.
Taking the oath in English he was trying to break the stereotype image of Jats. And if he could get something for the farmers on the MSP and makes government review the Agniveer scheme, he could emerge as a bigger winner.
Jitin Prasada (Minister of State for Information and Technology)
Jitin Prasada was once considered as among Rahul Gandhi's 'young Turks' and held crucial portfolios in successive Dr Manmohan Singh governments.
Later, disillusioned, he defected from the Congress to the BJP in 2021.
The 50-year-old returned to the Centre as a member of the Council of Ministers.
His father Jitendra Prasada was a Congress veteran whose fortunes plummeted following his decision to contest against Sonia Gandhi for the post of party president in 2000.
Prasada, who joined the BJP before the 2022 UP Assembly elections and was made an MLC, held the Public Works Department (PWD) department in the Yogi Adityanath government till he resigned.
He won from the Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat this time where the party replaced Varun Gandhi.
He was in political wilderness after losing the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and three years later the UP Assembly elections (2017), besides facing defeat in the 2019 parliamentary polls
Before joining the BJP, he had formed the Brahmin Chetna Parishad and tried to establish himself as a Brahmin leader. That was frowned upon by the Cong top brass. And seen as a way of self-projection.
Ram Mohan Naidu (Minister for Civil Aviation):
In a remarkable twist of history, Ram Mohan Naidu at 36, follows in the footsteps of his father, Yerran Naidu, who was the youngest Cabinet Minister in 1996. Now, he has become the youngest cabinet minister in the NDA coalition.
He has worked as the national general secretary of the TDP during tough times such as Chandrababu Naidu's arrest in the alleged skill development case.
He won from the Srikakulam Lok Sabha seat. The constituency was once represented by his father, Yerran Naidu, who died in a car accident in 2012.
Yerran Naidu was the face of the TDP in national politics in Delhi for a long time and also served as a Union minister during the United Front era.
Ram Mohan Naidu was one of the first MPs to advocate for menstrual health education and sex education in Parliament. He also campaigned for the removal of GST on sanitary pads.
Pemmasani Chandrashekhar (TDP) – (minister of state for rural development and communications)
Dr. Pemmasani Chandrasekhar, a first-time MP, first came to notice as possibly the wealthiest candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. With family assets, declared, of nearly Rs 6,000 crore, the doctor turned entrepreneur, at 47, entered politics for the first time in 2024.
And within four months, he has managed to become a Cabinet minister.
Together with wife Koneru Sriratna, he is a shareholder in over 100 multinational companies. Hugely over-leveraged, his wealth ostensibly comes from UWorld – an online learning service that helps students prepare for exams like the SAT, MCAT and United States Medical Licensing Examination.
Dr Pemmasani is from the influential Kammas group and his family has traditionally been Telugu Desam Party (TDP) loyalists.
His father Sambasiva Rao worked assiduously for the party.
In time, Dr Pemmasani too joined the TDP and helped organize events in the US whenever Chandrababu Naidu would visit.
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