Praful Patel

Shri Praful Patel [born February 17 1957 in Kolkata] is the Minister of State for Civil Aviation [Independent Charge] of India. He belongs to Gondia, a district in Maharashtra. He graduated in commerce, from Sydenham College, Mumbai. He is the son of prominent Congressman Late Shri Manoharbhai Patel. His first major political post was as Chairman of the Gondia Municipal Council. He was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha in 1991 at the age of 34. He was then elected three times consecutively to the 10th, 11th, and 12th Lok Sabhas. He lost the 1999 Lok Sabha Elections on account of a split in the traditional congress votes, after the formation of the Nationalist Congress Party which he chose to join. In 2004 he narrowly lost on account of the presence of a BSP candidate in the field. He is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha. He is married with 3 daughters and one son. Apart from his political activities, Mr. Patel is also a very successful businessman. He has a massive business empire concentrated in and around Nagpur and Gondia in Vidharbha. He has brought his training as a businessman into his role as Civil Aviation Minister and has been on scandals for openly supporting private Jet Airways while the State Carrier Air India has accumulated losses worth hundreds of crores.