Ashwini Vaishnaw: Back-room boy entrusted to lead from the front

While the induction of Ashwini Vaishnaw, an IAS officer-turned-entrepreneur-turned-Rajya Sabha member, into the Union council of ministers was widely anticipated, his direct entry into the Union Cabinet with the crucial portfolios of railways and communications and information technology just two years after his election to the Upper House, and without a stint as a minister of state, has drawn attention.

At the swearing-in, Vaishnaw was the sixth to take oath among 15 new Cabinet ministers, a pointer to his position in the pecking order.

Technocract Vaishnaw (50), who had been a backroom boy for Team Modi, got a berth for his professional expertise and his experience in the private and public sectors. He has been closely associated with many policy formulations during the ongoing pandemic, BJP insiders said.


While a deputy secretary in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s PMO, Vaishnaw had contributed immensely to designing the public-private-partnership policy framework for infrastructure projects. After Vajpayee demitted the PM’s office, he had also served as his private secretary.

The Rajasthan native is known as a go-getter. During the 1999 super-cyclone, when the weather forecast was rudimentary, Vaishnaw, then a young IAS officer, had logged into a US Navy website to track its path and would keep the then top administrators updated real-time.

Vaishnaw academic track record speaks for itself: a gold medallist BE (electronics and telecommunications) from the University of Jodhpur, an MTech in industrial management from IIT Kanpur and an MBA (finance and strategy) from Wharton.

After taking voluntary retirement from civil service, he worked as the MD of GE Transportation for South Asia, and then as head of urban infrastructure strategy at Siemens. In 2017, he worked with other entrepreneurs to acquire an iron oxide pellet-making unit in Odisha and ensured a turnaround in a few months.

His 1994 IAS batchmates say he was an outstanding officer who remained grounded. “He is a meticulous person. He has very high energy levels at all times and is highly motivated,” Odisha housing and urban development secretary G Mathi Vathanan, a batchmate, said.

Vaishnaw’s entry into the Rajya Sabha two years ago was dramatic and an indication of his importance. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had first announced him as a BJD candidate but later backed him as a BJP nominee for the Upper House in June 2019. The ruling regional party had the numbers to send one from its party but it conceded a seat for Vaishnaw though BJP is the principal opposition in the state.

Odisha BJP president Samir Mohanty says Vaishnaw’s Cabinet portfolio shows the PM means business. “India and Odisha will gain from his expertise and experience,” he said.