Subramanian Swamy

A former professor at Harvard and IIT Delhi, he merged Janata Party, of which he was President, with BJP in 2013

Former President of the Janata Party and associate professor at Harvard, who also taught at IIT Delhi, Subramanian Swamy merged his party with BJP on 11 August 2013. Swamy has previously served as member of the Planning Commission and was also a Cabinet Minister.

In November 1978, Swamy was member of the Group of Eminent persons called to Geneva to prepare a report of the United Nations (UNCTAD) on Economic Co-operation between Developing countries (ECDC).

Swamy simplified trade procedures and formulated a new export strategy which became the forerunner of trade reform adopted subsequently. In 1994, he was appointed as Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade by then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.

Swamy now serves as Chairman of the School of Communication and Management Studies in Kochi.

His political career started with his involvement in Sarvodaya movement, an apolitical movement that formed the foundation of the creation of Janta Party later. The real turn in his political career came after his sacking from IIT.

Liberal economic policies put forward by him didn't go well with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who discredited him as 'Santa Claus with unrealistic ideas'. Staunch opponent of Indira Gandhi and right wing political party Jana Sangh sent him to Rajya Sabha.

Swamy was elected Member of Parliament 5 times between 1974 and 1999. During the emergency, he fled to the US, seeking safe haven with an Indian businessman in Michigan. In 1976 when emergency was still in force and an arrest warrant issued in his name, he came to parliament to attend the session and managed to escape India after attending the session. This act made him a hero in the eyes of opposition parties.

He was a founding member of the Janata Party and has been its president since 1990.

During 1990 and 1991 Swamy was a member of the Planning Commission and Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Law. During this period he claims to have created the blueprint for economic reforms in India under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, which was later carried out in 1991 by Manmohan Singh, then Finance Minister under leadership of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.

On 11 August 2013, after a discussion with BJP President Rajnath Singh, Swami officially joined Bharatiya Janata Party. The joining marks the merging of Janata Party with Bharatiya Janata Party. Issues held and contributions.

A noted activist, Swamy filed a case in the Supreme Court seeking to prosecute Andimuthu Raja in the 2G Spectrum scam. He also sought to prosecute P Chidambaram and Sonia Gandhi, among others, in the scam, and has questioned Sonia's claim to Indian citizenship.

He has also cast aspersions on her educational qualifications and claims to have blocked her path to 7 Race Course Road after the Congress-led UPA's won the 2004 general elections.