Backroom boy who became BJP's public face
A self-confessed gizmo geek and fitness fanatic, Mahajan hobnobbed with industrialists and lived the good life. Paradoxically, it was this that earned him the wrath of the RSS, which considered Mahajan's five-star ways a departure from the austerity it espoused and celebrated.
But Mahajan rose from strength to strength, thanks to his organisation skills and way with people and finances. 'Somebody has to do it, so I do it,' he would tell reporters who asked him about his fundraising skills.
Mahajan was no stranger to controversy. Be it allegations of favouring a telecommunications giant or fingers pointed at him by the wife of a man questioned for the murder of a journalist, he made headlines for all the wrong reasons a number of times.
But Mahajan's charm never diminished, his flamboyance was never stymied.
Image: From left: Pramod Mahajan with Microsoft chief Bill Gates, Mahajan at the launch of Nokia's new model when he was the Information and Broadcasting minister in NDA(National Democratic Alliance) government, extreme right: Pramod Mahajan with Reliance Industries head Mukesh Ambani.
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Photograph: Saab Pictures and Jewella C Miranda