Rajiv Pratap Rudy

Rajiv Pratap Rudy (born 30 March 1962) is an Indian politician from Bihar. He is a four-time Member of Parliament representing Bharatiya Janata Party.^[1] In 2023, he won from Saran (Lok Sabha constituency) in Bihar.^[2] Earlier, he won three times in 1996, 1999 and 2014 from Chapra Assembly Constituency, which later became Saran. He was also an MLA from Taraiya Assembly Constituency representing Janata Dal in 1990. He is also a licensed pilot.^[3]

Rajiv Pratap Rudy
Minister of State Government of India
In office 9 November 2014 – 31 August 2017
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Ministry	Term
Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge)	9 November 2014 - 31 August 2017
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs	9 November 2014 - 5 July 2016
In office 1 September 2002 – 22 May 2004
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Ministry	Term
Minister of Civil Aviation (Independent Charge)	24 May 2003 - 22 May 2004
Minister of Commerce & Industry	1 September 2002 - 24 May 2003
Member of Parliament Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 2014
Preceded by	Lalu Prasad yadav
Constituency	Saran
In office 1999–2004
Preceded by	Heera Lal Rai
Succeeded by	Lalu Prasad Yadav
Constituency	Chapra
In office 1996–1998
Preceded by	Lal Babu Rai
Succeeded by	Heera Lal Rai
Constituency	Chapra
Member of Parliament Rajya Sabha
In office 4 July 2008 – 16 May 2014
Preceded by	Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
Succeeded by	Pavan Varma
Constituency	Bihar
Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office 1990–1995
Preceded by	Ram Das Rai
Succeeded by	Ram Das Rai
Constituency	Taraiya
Personal details
Born	(1962-03-30) 30 March 1962 (age 63) Amnour, Saran, Bihar
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party (1999–present) Bihar People's Party (1995-1999)
Spouse	Neelam Pratap ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	2
Alma mater	Panjab University

Early life

Rajiv Pratap Rudy was born to Vishwanath Singh and Prabha Singh on 30 March 1962 in Patna, Bihar.^[4][5] His ancestral village is Amnour, Saran, Bihar.^[6][7][8] Rudy did his schooling from St. Michael's High School, Patna.^[9] Later, he completed his pre-university from DAV College, Chandigarh. He completed his B.A. (Hons.) in Economics at Government College, Chandigarh. Later he also got a degree in Law from Panjab University in 1985 and studied post-graduation in Economics from Magadh University in 1987.

Prior to joining politics, he was a lecturer of Economics in A.N. College, Patna.^[10] He was into student politics at Panjab University at Chandigarh when studying at Government College.^[11]

Personal life

Rudy married Neelam Pratap on 9 March 1991 at the age of 29.^[12][13] They have two daughters.^[14] Elder daughter, Avshreya Rudy (born 1993), is a lawyer and also a polo player.^[15] His younger daughter, Atisha Pratap Singh (born 2000), is a kuchipudi dancer.^{[16][17][18][19]}

Political career

Rudy started his political journey in 1989 as a campaign manager of Harmohan Dhawan, who contested from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha constituency. He was actively associated with former prime minister Chandra Shekhar.

Rudy was first elected in 1990 as a Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Janata Dal ticket from Taraiya at the young age of 28.^[14]

As Member of Parliament

Rudy was elected to the Lok Sabha winning the 1996 Indian General Election in Bihar as a candidate of the BJP from Chapra (Lok Sabha constituency).^[14] He won the 1999 Indian General Election in Bihar and was re–elected for a second term of Lok Sabha on BJP ticket.^[14]

He then served as the Minister of State for Commerce, Trade & Industry and subsequently became Civil Aviation Minister with independent charge in the National Democratic Alliance government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001.

Rudy had earlier held the post of National Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He was the General Secretary and member of the BJP National Executive.^[20]

Rudy lost to Lalu Prasad in 2004 General elections in Chapra (Lok Sabha constituency).^[21][22] He was then elected to Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2010.^[4][23][24] He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections from Saran (Lok Sabha constituency) and defeated former Chief Minister of Bihar, Rabri Devi.^[25][26] following which he was sworn-in as Minister of State on 9 November 2014 and got Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.^[27]

In 2014, Rudy became the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in Narendra Modi's government. Simultaneously he also shared Parliamentary Affairs department jointly with Minister of State, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Rudy was a General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party, a position relinquished soon after he joined the government. Rudy is a trained pilot and holds a commercial pilot's license. He is featured in the Limca Book of Records as the only parliamentarian to fly a commercial aircraft, an Airbus-320 of Indigo airlines.^[28][29]

Controversies

During that tenure as Civil Aviation Minister, Rudy was in controversy of non-payment of his bills at Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Goa, which he had to later pay.^[30] In October 2015, Rajiv Pratap Rudy was in a controversy over sharing on Twitter a screenshot of Pakistan's daily Dawn website carrying Nitish Kumar's ad of vote appeal during 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, prompting JD (U) to launch a sharp attack on him and seek his immediate sacking.^[31] He submitted his resignation from the cabinet on 31 August 2017 prior to imminent reshuffle on 2 September 2017.

In May 2021, Rajiv Pratap Rudy was criticized when 30 unused ambulances were found parked at his Amnour Vishw-Prabha community centre, even when Bihar was struggling under second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.^[32] These ambulances were purchased using funds from the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).^[33] Jan Adhikar Party chief Pappu Yadav raided that community centre run by Rudy.^[34]