MP debates

Poonam Mahajan, alias Poonam Vajendla Rao, is with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) from the Mumbai North Central constituency, and president of the BJP youth wing. She is the daughter of the late BJP politician Pramod Mahajan. A firebrand leader, she is credited with having infused a lot of energy into the youth wing of the ruling party. She has a very strong social media presence, and her social media campaign is reportedly being led by Madhukeshwar Desai, vice president of BJYM and great grandson of Morarji Desai. She contested elections for…

Gopal Chinnaya Shetty became an MP for the first time in 2014, when he won the Mumbai North constituency as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The constituency has previously seen the likes of veteran politicians such as Ram Naik (present governor of Uttar Pradesh ) and Bollywood actor Govinda being elected. Shetty's win in 2014 marked a win for a BJP candidate after two terms, the previous two elections having been won by Congress candidates. Shetty has served the party in various capacities. He is a three-time Corporator and a two-time MLA from Borivali constituency. In 2014,…

Dr Kirit P Solanki is with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has been a member of Parliament since 2009. He  represented the Ahmedabad West Constituency in the 16th Lok Sabha and is known for introducing several private member's bills during his tenure. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Dr Solanki defeated Vaghela Ka (of INC party) by a margin of 49264 votes. The constituency with 1534400 voters saw a turnout of 62.87% and he received 63.97% of the polled votes. The MP will be contesting for a third time from the same seat when Ahmedabad goes to polls on…

Paresh Rawal is a first time MP from the Ahmedabad East Constituency. An acclaimed actor who has essayed many iconic roles in both mainstream and parallel Hindi cinema, the 63-year old Rawal is known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has said in more than one interview that it was the inspiration from the PM that led him to join politics. In 2014, he was reportedly considered for two Gujarat seats -- Ahmedabad East and Vadodara -- where Modi himself was also being named as a possible contender. Finally, Modi stood for Vadodara, while Rawal got Ahmedabad…

A second time MP, Dr Naramalli Sivaprasad is a versatile personality. A theatre-artist, actor, film producer and two-time MP from the Chittoor Constituency, Sivaprasad is known for dressing up as various characters in Parliament to draw attention to issues. Dressed on various occasions as characters as diverse as Adolf Hitler, Chatrapathi Shivaji and MG Ramachandran, the MP staged protests demanding special packages for Andhra Pradesh. While his appearances as a theatre artist have hogged headlines, his recorded attendance and engagement as Member of Parliament on the floor of the House leave much to be desired.  In the 2014 elections, Sivaprasad…