MP's metamorphosis to a pilot of a Commercial plane !

Saran Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 40 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Bihar state. This constituency came into existence in 2008 as a part of the implementation of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies – and the first to be elected from here in 2009 was ‘Lalu Prasad Yadav’ – this post is on the sitting MP who was elected from here in 2014 also .. … and his worthy exploit!

.. can you identify this speaker !!

The Lok Sabha, or House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Sansad Bhavan, New Delhi.  Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election on the basis of the adult suffrage. The maximum strength of the House envisaged by the Constitution is 552, which is made up by election of upto 530 members to represent the States, upto 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian Community to be nominated by the Hon'ble President, if,  in his/her opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the House.

In the present Lok Sabha - 118 MPs are serving for the third time or more. The two Lok Sabha veterans are Maneka Gandhi (Sultanpur) and Santosh Kumar Gangwar (Bareilly), both elected for the eighth time.  Lok Sabha has had legal luminaries, Doctors (this time neuro surgeon too), Educationists, Singers, Cricketers, other sportsmen, Yogis, film actors .. .. and of course, many politicians – and this man is different !

DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran in a tweet thread narrated how he ran into this parliamentarian  and why he thought it was an interesting meet. The DMK leader titled the thread "A Flight to Remember." Mr Maran had boarded an IndiGo flight to go from Delhi to Chennai, after attending a meeting of the parliamentary estimates committee. Soon, someone came to speak with him. "'So you are traveling in this flight as well!' said the  person dressed in the Captain's uniform.   Maran reportedly was not able to recognise him with his mask on, although his voice sounded familiar. The hero  looked at him  and his eyes gave away the smile behind the mask. 'So you don't recognize me!'" asked the man .. ..

He is  no ordinary person – a Pilot himself is an exalted entity – this man is a Senior Member of Parliament and former Union Minister – Sri Rajiv Pratap Rudy.  Though Maran failed to identify – just a couple of hours earlier, they had been involved in intense discussions at the Estimates Committee and then he had metamorphosed from a politician to a pilot.

"How often does a sitting Member of Parliament captain a commercial flight?  .. … yes – if it is Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy (born in Mar 1962) – spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party, Parliamentarian from Saran and more.  In Nov 2014,  he was made Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in Narendra Modi's government, a key ministry in view of Modi's slogan of 'Make in India' and associated attempts to make India a production hub. He also shared Parliamentary Affairs department jointly with another Minister of State, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Rudy was a General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party, a position relinquished soon after he joined the government.

Shri Rudy  holds a commercial pilot's license. Rudy is in Limca Book of Records for being the only parliamentarian to fly a commercial aircraft having flown Airbus-320 of Indigo airlines.   Rudy was first elected in 1990 as a Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Janata Dal ticket from Taraiya at the age of 28.  Mr Rudy flies Airbus A320-321. He was Civil Aviation Minister in 2003. This is his fourth term as an MP in the Lok Sabha, in addition to having been elected twice to the Rajya Sabha from his home state, Bihar. An avid aviator, Mr Rudy on his website says, "Other aircrafts I have flown include Sukhoi 30-MKI fighter aircraft, Grippen and the Rafale fighter."

Mr Rudy has two daughters, elder Avshreya Rudy is a lawyer and a polo player.  Younger daughter Atisha Pratap singh is a kuchipudi dancer.

Interesting ! 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
15^th July 2o21.