Businessmen in Parliament

Does politics drive business or is it the other way round? The jury's been out on it for long. Nonetheless, it is interesting to see the number of businessmen/traders/entrepreneurs that sit on the benches in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Here are some of them:

Naveen Jindal

Naveen Jindal, vice chairman and managing director of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, is a Member of Parliament since 2004.

39-year-old Jindal represents the Kurukshetra constituency in Haryana. He was instrumental in getting the Supreme Court's permission to let all citizens fly the Indian flag inside and on their buildings.

JSPL is part of over $10 billion Jindal Organisation. The company was established in 1990 by hiving off the Raigarh & Raipur Divisions of Jindal Strips Ltd.

Vijay Mallya

Vijay Mallya is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

The 55-year-old chairman of the United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya entered politics in 2000 as the president of Janata Party.

He took over United Breweries in 1983 and under his leadership the group has grown significantly, and has over sixty companies.

Vijay Mallya is known for his successful bidding of 175,000 pounds for the sword of Tipu Sultan at an auction in London in 2004. Earlier this month, Mallya successfully bid for the belongings of Mahatma Gandhi at $1.8 million in a New York auction.

Praful Patel

Praful Patel is a member of the Rajya Sabha and Minister of State for Civil Aviation. Patel was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha in 1991 at the age of 34.

The 52-year-old Patel was elected three times consecutively to the 10th, 11th, and 12th Lok Sabhas. After losing in the Lok Sabha elections in April 2000, he became a Rajya Sabha member. He has huge business interests in Nagpur and Gondia in Vidarbha.

Dayanidhi Maran

Dayanidhi Maran, member of the Lok Sabha, was Minister of Communications and IT in the Union Cabinet.

He is the younger brother of Kalanidhi Maran, the founder and managing director of Sun Network, the group that owns satellite television channels in southern India. 43-year-old Dayanidhi belongs to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Party.

Rahul Bajaj

Rahul Bajaj, chairman of the Bajaj Group, is a Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra. He has the support of the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Nationalist Congress Party.

In June 2006, Bajaj was elected as a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra. The 71-year-old took over control of the Bajaj Group in 1965. Under his leadership, the company made great progress. The Bajaj Group finds a place among the top Indian corporates. Its business spans over a wide range of industries, automobiles (two-wheelers and three-wheelers), home appliances, lighting, iron and steel, insurance, travel and finance.

Rajkumar Dhoot

Rajkumar Dhoot is Shiv Sena-nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. Dhoot is the chief executive officer of Datacom Solutions.

The 54-year-old is the brother of Venugopal Dhoot, chairman of Videocon Industries. Datacom Solutions, is a subsidiary of consumer durables major Videocon Industries, which received telecom licences to begin pan-India operations.

Suresh Kalmadi

Suresh Kalmadi, a Lok Sabha member, belongs to the Congress party. He is the president of the Indian Olympic Association, the Asian Athletics Association, and the Athletics Federation of India.

In 1977, Kalmadi became the president of the Indian Youth Congress, Pune, and was the president of the Indian Youth Congress, Maharashtra, from 1978-1980.

The 65-year-old Kalmadi has been member of the Rajya Sabha for three terms from 1982 to 1995, and again in 1998. He was also elected to the 11th Lok Sabha in 1996, and to the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004. He heads the Sai Service Group, which has the dealership of Maruti and Bajaj vehicles. The group also markets Mahindra vehicles.

T R Baalu

T R Baalu, Union Cabinet Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, is a member of the Lok Sabha. The 68-year-old Baalu has been elected four times since 1996

He represents the DMK. An industrialist with an engineering background, he began his political career in 1957 when he was just 16 years old.

Baalu's family owns companies like King Chemicals and King Hi Power. He was recently at the center of a controversy for using his post to favour gas deals for his companies.

Sharad Pawar

Sharad Pawar is the president of the Nationalist Congress Party which he founded in 1999, after separating from the Indian National Congress.

The 69-year-old Pawar has held the posts of Defence Minister of India and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and currently serves as Union Minister of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Pawar hails from Baramati in Maharashtra. An agriculturist and businessman, he owns several sugar manufacturing factories in his home town.

M P Veerendra Kumar

M P Veerendra Kumar, member of the Lok Sabha, represents the Kozhikode constituency in Kerala. Member of the Janata Dal-S, 72-year-old Veerendra Kumar is also the chairman and managing editor of the Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi.

He is also the president of Kerala state unit of the political party called Janata Dal. He took over as the managing director of the Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Ltd in 1979.

Rajeev Shukla

Rajeev Shukla, a Rajya Sabha member, serves as the secretary of the All India Congress Committee.

The 50-year-old Shukla is also the founder and director of BAG Films Limited.

Before beginning his political innings, Shukla was a reporter for the Northern India Patrika. He has been a Rajya Sabha member since 2000.

Shukla is the also the vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Amar Singh

Amar Singh, general secretary of the Samajwadi Party, is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

An influential politician, he hit the headlines recently for his generous grant of million of dollars to the Clinton Foundation.

On November 6, 2008, Amar Singh told the Election Commission that he had net assets to the tune of Rs 37 crore (Rs 370 million). A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed against him in this regard.

The 53-year-old Singh is close to business tycoons like Anil Ambani and film stars like Amitabh Bachchan.

Saleem Iqbal Shervani

Saleem Iqbal Shervani represents the Badaun Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. The 53-year-old Shervani has held the posts of Union Health Minister and Foreign Minister.

He is the owner of Neoli Sugar factory and president of Krishi Inter College.

Jyotiraditya Scindia

Jyotiraditya Scindia is among the youngest members of Parliament.

The 38-year-old was elected to the Lok Sabha in February 2002 from his father the late Madhavrao Scindia's constituency Guna in Madhya Pradesh.

He is the director of Scindia Investments Pvt Ltd, a private equity investment company with real estate, leisure and hospitality properties portfolio. He was also the director of Garware Petrochem Ltd from 1997-1999.

Murli Deora & Milind Deora

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora has inherited a family business of manufacturing and trading. A social worker and an industrialist, the 72-year-old Deora has also served as Municipal Councillor and Mayor of Mumbai.

His son, Milind, joined politics following his father's footsteps. 33-year-old Milind Deora is among the youngest Parliamentarians. Elected in April 2004 from Mumbai South, he represents the Indian National Congress.

He entered into politics with his mission of making Mumbai a world class city. He founded SPARSH, an NGO, to help the underprivileged. He joined the Indian Merchants' Chamber and was soon elected the chairman of its Young Entrepreneurs' Wing.

Vinod Khanna

Vinod Khanna, actor and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, hails from a business family. His father KC Khanna had a textiles, dyes and chemicals business.

Vinod Khanna has acted in several films. The 62-year-old Khanna is also a film producer. In 1997, he joined the BJP and won the Lok Sabha seat from Gurdaspur, Punjab in 1998. Since then he has been elected three times.

Maneka Gandhi

An environmentalist, animal rights activist, journalist and a minister in four governments, Maneka Gandhi has donned various roles.

Maneka has authored a number of books on etymology, law and animal welfare. The Lok Sabha site mentions her as a writer and trader. A Member of Parliament from the Pilibhit constituency, 53-year-old Maneka has won every time she has contested from Pilibhit, except once. She has changed parties often and contested on different tickets.

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