Anant Geete, a Shiv Sena loyalist

NEW DELHI: In a party where loyalty to the first family in Shiv Sena is often considered a criteria to climb up the political ladder, Anant Geete is Uddhav Thackeray's trusted lieutenant in Delhi.

So, when hectic lobbying began within the party for a slot in Modi's cabinet, Thackeray decided to reward Geete, an MP from Raigad, with a cabinet berth.

In recently concluded Lok Sabha election, Geete defeated Sunil Tatkare, a NCP strongman from North Konkan and a senior minister in the Maharashtra government, by a slender margin of 2110 votes. He has been elected to the Lok Sabha six times in a row.

Usually a low profile leader within the party, Geete was first elected to Parliament in 1996 from Ratnagiri in Konkan, a region that helped Sena win power for the first time in the state. Since then, he has been representing the constituency (now Raigad after delimitation).

He is also vocal in Lok Sabha over issues concerning the party and the state.

In the Vajpayee's government regime, he was MoS (Finance), but was soon elevated to the rank of Cabinet Minister and was given an important Power portfolio.

Even now, he trounced his rivals in the party, many even considered close to the party leadership, to bag the cabinet berth.

Geete cut his teeth in politics in 1985 when he was elected the corporator in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Even there he was the chairman of all powerful Standing Committee of the corporation, another post that usually goes to those trusted by the party.