Maharashtra got five ministerial positions in the latest Council of Ministers in the Central government.
Maharashtra
1. Piyush Goyal
Rank: Cabinet
Portfolio:
Born on June 13, 1964, Piyush Vedprakash Goyal held several key cabinet positions in the Government of India. He served as the Minister of Textiles, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Elevated to the Cabinet Minister role on 3 September, 2017, Goyal is also a Member of Parliament for the Rajya Sabha, representing Maharashtra, and serves as the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha.
In the 2024 General Elections, Goyal emerged victorious as the BJP candidate for the Mumbai North constituency.
Previously, he was the National Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party and chaired the BJP’s Information Communication Campaign Committee, managing the party’s publicity, advertising, and social media strategy for the 2014 Indian General Elections. Goyal also held additional charge as Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs in 2018 and 2019. Before that, he served as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy (2014–2017), and Mines (2016–17).
2. Nitin Gadkari
Rank: Cabinet
Portfolio:
Born on May 27, 1957, Nitin Jairam Gadkari served as the Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India. He holds the distinction of being the longest-serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways with his tenure extending over nine years. Gadkari previously led the Bharatiya Janata Party as its president from 2009 to 2013.
Gadkari was able to achieve a hat-trick this year as he cliched the Nagpur seat for the third time since 2014.
Gadkari is renowned for his transformative work as the Public Works Department Minister of Maharashtra, where he spearheaded the construction of numerous roads, highways, and flyovers across the state. He represents the Nagpur constituency in the Lok Sabha and is a qualified lawyer. Throughout his career, he held various ministerial roles, including in Water Resources and River Development, Shipping, Rural Development, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
Widely dubbed the “Expressway Man of India” by the media, Gadkari is credited with initiating the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and has significantly advanced the development of expressways and road infrastructure in India.
3. Pratap Rao Jadhav
Rank: Minister of State (Independent Charge)
Portfolio:
Born on November 25, 1960, Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav represented the Buldhana Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra. Affiliated with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction, Jadhav secured his seat in the 15th Lok Sabha by defeating Dr Rajendra Shingne of the Nationalist Congress Party.
This year, he won the Lok Sabha election from the Buldhana constituency by securing a total of 3,49,867 votes.
Before his tenure as an MP, Jadhav held various positions, ranging from Sarpanch to Member of the Legislative Assembly. He also served as a state minister in the Sena-BJP coalition government. Additionally, Jadhav is the chairman of Sharngdhar Sugar Mills. Having been elected as an MP three times from the Buldhana constituency, he continues to be a significant figure in Maharashtra politics.
4. Raksha Khadse
Rank: Minister of State
Portfolio:
Raksha Nikhil Khadse represents the Raver Lok Sabha constituency in the lower house of the Indian Parliament. She won the seat for the third time in the latest edition of Lok Sabha elecion.
Born in Khetia, Madhya Pradesh, Raksha is the daughter-in-law of Eknath Khadse, a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra. She was married to Nikhil Khadse, Eknath Khadse’s son, until his untimely death.
Raksha Khadse’s political journey began at the grassroots level when she was elected as the Sarpanch of Kothadi village. She later served on the Jalgaon Zila Parishad. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Raksha made a significant impact by defeating Manish Jain of the NCP with a margin of 318,608 votes, securing 605,452 votes against Jain’s 287,384. At the age of 26, she, along with Heena Gavit, became one of the youngest members of the 16th Lok Sabha.
Raksha was re-elected in 2019 for a second term as the MP for Raver.
5. Ram Das Athawale
Rank: Minister of State
Portfolio:
Born on December 25, 1959, Ramdas Bandu Athawale leads the Republican Party of India (A), a faction that traces its heritage to BR Ambedkar’s Scheduled Castes Federation, established in 1999. Since 2016, Athawale has served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, representing Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of Parliament, since 2014.
Athawale’s political career includes serving as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha for the Pandharpur constituency from 1999 to 2009 and representing the Mumbai North Central constituency from 1998 to 1999. Additionally, he was a Cabinet Minister in the Maharashtra government from 1990 to 1995 and a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1990 to 1996.
6. Murlidhar Kisan Mohol
Rank: Minister of State
Portfolio:
Murlidhar Kisan Mohol has been elected as the Member of Parliament for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency in 2024. He previously served as the mayor of Pune, taking office in November 2019, succeeding Mukta Tilak. In the 2017 elections, Mohol was a corporator from the 12C ward of the Pune Municipal Corporation, representing the BJP.
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Modi 3.0: Piyush Goyal, Nitin Gadkari among big names from Maharashtra in new Union Cabinet
