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Man the Shiv Sena banks on

For the 44-year-old Suresh Prabhu, this is his second stint at the Centre.

A chartered accountant by training, the Shiv Sena MP from Maharashtra served as industries minister in the short-lived Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1996.

A former chairman of the Maharashtra Planning Commission, Prabhu joined the Shiv Sena following the expiry of his term as chairman of Saraswat Co-operative Bank in 1994.

In the 1996 election, he defeated Major Sudhir Sawant, the sitting Congress MP in Rajapur, and retained the seat in 1998 by around 70,000 votes.

Prabhu says he was instrumental in the Union government setting up a Shramik Vidyapeeth, which will help youth in the districts find employment. He says his main objective would be development of tourism, to bring about prosperity in the Konkan region.

He would also lay more emphasis on the speedy implementation of economic reforms.

Prabhu's wife Uma is a journalist in Bombay.

UNI

EARLIER INTERVIEW:
'The reforms that have taken place so far are very cosmetic'

Elections '98

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