The expansion of the ministerial team of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday triggered excitement for a variety of reasons. Some were curious about the caste and regional calculations behind new inductions, while others referred to the 'gainers' (and losers) in the new team.
But most took note of one new inductee: Ashwini Vaishnaw, the new minister of Railways and Communications and Electronics and Information Technology. Vaishnaw is considered one of the most academically qualified and accomplished members of the new Modi team.
Vaishnaw is not just a new face in the BJP; he is considered a newbie to politics. He joined the BJP in June 2019 after the party nominated him for a Rajya Sabha bypoll seat from Odisha.
Born in Jodhpur in 1970, Vaishnaw earned a gold medal during his bachelors degree in engineering (electronics and telecommunications) at what is now the Jai Narain Vyas University. Vaishnaw earned an M. Tech degree in industrial management from IIT Kanpur in 1994. According to his website, he was the class topper at IIT. The same year, Vaishnaw was selected in the civil services examination. He secured 27th rank in the UPSC examination and opted for the IAS, joining the Odisha cadre.
He was posted in the districts of Sundargarh, Balasore and Cuttack. During his time as collector of Balasore district, Vaishnaw was praised for his proactive measures during the 'super cyclone' that hit Odisha in October-November 1999. According to official figures, nearly 10,000 people died in the cyclone, while unofficial figures estimate the toll to be far higher.
Vaishnaw is credited with collecting information about the cyclone's trajectory from a US Navy website, which he sent to the state's chief secretary. His information helped the state government take measures to reduce the death toll.
Vaishnaw continued in Odisha until 2003, when he was drafted to Central service as a deputy secretary in the office of former prime minister A.B. Vajpayee. He was later appointed as Vajpayee's private secretary after the NDA lost the election in 2004.
Vaishnaw resigned from government in 2008 to join the MBA programme at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he focused on courses in finance and strategy. According to his website, Vaishnaw worked as the managing director of GE Transportation for South Asia and then as head of urban infrastructure strategy in Siemens.
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He then decided to venture out of his own to focus on the auto components industry. Vaishnaw set up four units making auto components in Gujarat that served Suzuki, Honda and Hero. In 2017, he worked with others to buy an iron-oxide pellet manufacturing unit in Odisha.
The entry of Vaishnaw into the Union cabinet comes two years after he surprised all in Odisha's political circles when he was elected to the Upper House of Parliament as a BJP candidate despite the saffron party lacking the required numbers to send a member to the Rajya Sabha. The ruling BJD supported his election to the Rajya Sabha, an act that irked the Congress and even caused some discomfort in the BJD.