Ananth Kumar

Kumar's entry into the cabinet is Modi's effort to keep the Advani camp in good humour

Chemicals and Fertilizers minister

Date & year of birth: July 22, 1959
Constituency: Bangalore South constituency
Whether represented the constituency before: Yes
Whether held ministerial charge earlier: Yes

Kumar is a six-time Lok Sabha MP, winning consecutively from Bangalore South constituency from 1996. He was secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad from 1982 to 1985, its national secretary from 1985 to 1987, secretary of the BJP in Karnataka and then general secretary from 1988 to 1995.

Currently, he is one of the party's national general secretaries. In the 1998-2004 NDA government, Kumar was cabinet minister for Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports; then of Tourism and Culture and later also handled the Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation portfolio, with the additional charge of Rural Development.

Kumar is known to be close to veteran leader L K Advani, as also Sushma Swaraj. His entry into the cabinet is clearly Modi's effort to keep the Advani camp in good humour. What has also worked for Kumar is that his rival, B S Yeddyurappa, has been asked to focus on Karnataka.

Kumar has also been embroiled in controversies. In August 2005, a public interest suit by lawyer Prashant Bhushan alleged Kumar when minister had misused public funds for paying his mobile telephone bills and for other private expenditure. Lawyer R K Anand, also a Congress party member, alleged Kumar was one of the contacts of lobbyist Niira Radia. The Aam Aadmi Party listed Kumar as one of India's most corrupt in early 2014 and Kumar filed a defamation case against AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal.