Two MPs from Gujarat - Mohan Kundariya from Rajkot and Hari Chaudhari from Banaskantha -made the cut.The duo was sworn in as ministers of state. BJP MP from Rajkot, Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya is a prominent industrialist and also known for his social work. Kundariya, 63, was a former minister of state for rural development and is a Kadva Patel leader who represented the Tankara constituency in Rajkot. He is also a former RSS pracharak. He was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2014, and became a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on chemicals and fertilizers on September 1, 2014.
Known as an industrialist-cum-politician-cum-social worker, Kundariya has an agro-based business.
He lives in Gujarat's Morbi district and has studied up to Class 8. His wife is a homemaker. Earlier this year, Kundariya was caught in a controversy over a video showing him walking over gurukul students at a yoga function in Rajkot.
Kundariya was seen walking on the chests of around 10 children -between ages 15 and 25 years -with the support of two people to showcase the yoga skills of the youngsters. He had said at the time that it was the students who had requested him to walk on their backs.
The former MLA from Tankara is considered to be a close associate of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, BJP president Amit Shah and other ministers in the state.
Riding the `Modi wave', Kundariya wrested the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat from sitting Congress MP Kunwarji Bavalia in the polls earlier this year.
Four-time MP Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhari, who stormed the traditional Congress bastion of Banaskantha 16 years ago and maintained a strong hold over it since then, also bagged a ministerial berth at the Centre on Sunday. An active member of RSS, the four-time MP joined BJP during late 1980s and held several key positions in the party unit in Gujarat, including the post of Vice President in 2005. The 60-year-old Chaudhari, who will be a minister of state in the Narendra Modi government, did his post-graduation in commerce and started working as a diamond trader at an early age. Later, he shifted to Banaskantha to start his own business. Chaudhari first came into limelight after winning the 1998 Lok Sabha polls for the very first time on a BJP ticket.
He was again elected in 1999 from Banaskantha. In 2013, he won the by-elections from this seat after the death of sitting Congress MP Mukesh Gadhvi. He defeated Congress veteran Joita Patel in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, cornering almost 58 per cent of the total votes. In Parliament, he was a member of several panels, including the Standing Committees on Finance, Chemicals and Fertilizer, Agriculture and Commerce.