Modi is supported by all carorpatis of this country. His grand large party has 73 crorepati candidates who had contested the Lok Sabha polls. In the 26 seats of Gujarat, 21 BJP candidates have emerged as victorious who are crorepatis. 80.76 per cent candidates, who have been elected as Members of Parliament with a total of 21 seats, ranging from assets of more than one crore to around Rs. 80 crore. The crorepati candidates who have registered victory in the 16th Lok Sabha polls include big names like Narendra Modi, veteran leader L K Advani and actor Paresh Rawal. Other millionaire parliamentarians of the BJP include C R Patil, Poonam Maadam, K C Patel, Vitthal Radadiya, Ramsinh Rathwa, Mohan Kundariya, Naran Kacchadia, Kirit Solanki and Dipsinh Rathod. Jaswantsinh Bhabhor, Darshana Jardosh, Prabhu Vasava, Hari Chaudhary, Leeladhar Waghela, Jayshree Patel, Devaji Fatehpura and Prabhatsinh Chuhan were also on the list. Actor and BJP’s victorious candidate from Ahmedabad (east) Paresh Rawal tops the list with total property of Rs. 79.52 crore including Rs. 56.05 movable and Rs. 23.46 crore immovable assets. BJP candidate from Navsari Lok Sabha seat, C R Patil, has total assets worth Rs. 74.47 crore. He defeated Congress candidate Maqsood Mirza with a margin of more than 5.58 lakh votes. In Saurahstra region, BJP candidate from Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat Poonam Maadam, who has defeated her uncle Vikram Maadam with more than 1.75 lakh votes, owns total assets to the tune of 17.43 crore. BJP’s candidate from Valsad Lok Sabha seat K C Patel, who won against two time MP Kishan Patel of Congress with a margin of 2.08 lakh votes, has total assets worth Rs. 13.11 crore. Dilip Patel, who has defeated former Union minister Bharatsinh Solanki from Anand Lok Sabha seat, owns assets worth Rs. 7,59,98,610. BJP’s strongman from Porbandar Lok Sabha seat Vitthal Radadia has total assets of Rs. 7.30 crore. Radadia had defeated NCP’s Kandhal Jadeja with more than 2.67 lakh votes. In Chhota Udaipur seat, BJP’s Ramsing Rathwa, who won against former Minister of State Naran Rathwa, has total assets of Rs. 3.97 crore.
Mohan Kundaria, who clinched the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat from Congress’ Kunwarji Bavaliya, owns assets worth Rs. 3.95 crore. Assumption is that most of the crorepati MPs from Gujarat are businessmen, and could have earned a lot through business. However, Paresh Rawal is an actor and it is quite possible that whatever money he has invested in property or stocks or in other assets may have skyrocketed. These crorepati MPs have won the election and can be part of Modi’s new cabinet.
As more than needed MPs have won in this general election, Modi is in dilemma to finalise the names in his cabinet. It is real challenge for Modi to distribute portfolio. Three days after he won a thumping victory in the general election, there was little clarity about who Modi would include in his team, even in key portfolios like Defence, Home and External Affairs. Sources say Arun Jaitley, a member of Modi’s core team, could land Finance or External Affairs. Jaitley lost the Lok Sabha election from Amritsar in Punjab, a rare missed mark for his party, which won 336 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha with its allies. Jaitley, a former commerce minister, is regarded as a capable administrator, and is one of the few people in the party who has experience but is not too old at 61.
Rajnath Singh, who reportedly would like to be projected as Modi’s number 2 in government, could head the Home Ministry. Former Telecom Minister Arun Shourie could get a top post, along with Nitin Gadkari, the former BJP president who has just won his first national election from Nagpur and is a key liaison between the party and its powerful ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). Sushma Swaraj, who led the opposition in the lower house of parliament for the past five years but is not seen as close to Modi, wants one of the four big ministries – Defence, Home, External or Finance. Her assignment has yet to be finalised. Modi was considering merging some ministries to streamline government. The BJP was last in power 10 years ago, and some of the ministers who served then are now past their prime, leaving Modi a relatively small pool of experience at his disposal. On the plus side, the party’s runaway success in the election has brought a lot of new faces into the decision-making lower house of parliament. Satyapal Singh, the former Mumbai Police Commissioner, who quit his post to contest the Lok Sabha polls as a BJP candidate in Uttar Pradesh, also visited Singh. He has pulled off an impressive win in Baghpat defeating Rahstriya Lok Dal chief and union minister Ajit Singh. As they finalising a cabinet list, Modi and his team have to decide what roles to give leaders like LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and MM Joshi – who comprise the BJP faction which is reportedly not close to the PM-to-be. Allies are meeting the BJP brass too. YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy also met Modi, purportedly to discuss issues and concerns related to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Sources say leaders of YSR Congress also wanted the PM-elect to reassure them that his ally, Chandrababu Naidu, who will take over as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, will not persecute their leader on what they describe as false charges of corruption. The date of the new government’s swearing-in has still not been finalised. The newly-elected MPs of the BJP will hold a meeting on 21st May to formally elect Modi as their leader, and as such, the prime ministerial designate of the BJP-led NDA.
