Backroom boy who became BJP's public face
In the 1980s, Mahajan was the BJP's public relations manager, and he would argue vociferously and eloquently that the BJP was the party of the future. Few believed him, because at that time the Congress looked invincible and the BJP a fringe phenomenon, but most were impressed by the Mahajan charm and conviction.
After serving as the BJP's Maharashtra unit general secretary from 1978 to 1983, he contested the 1984 Lok Sabha elections and lost. He was made president of the All India Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in 1986.
But it was in 1990, with Lal Krishna Advani's Rath Yatra, that Mahajan's organisational skills came in handy for the BJP. It was the yatra that catapulted BJP into prime position in the Indian political horizon, and Mahajan as the party's backroom manager.
Five years later, Mahajan's managerial skills won the BJP an alliance with the Shiv Sena, and an election victory in Maharashtra.
He never looked back.
Image: Left: Pramod Mahajan with BJP senior leader L K Advani and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
Right: Pramod Mahajan discussing the nitty-gritty's during L K Advani's first rath yatra.
Also See: A brother's wrath
Photograph: Jewella C Miranda