 "image")
Who is Jagat Prakash Nadda?
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda or Jagat Prakash Nadda is the 11th president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2020, and a member of the Rajya Sabha representing Gujarat since 2024. JP Nadda earlier served as health minister from 2014 to 2019.
He was elected MLA from Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur from 1993 to 2003 and then from 2007 to 2012. He also served as the Minister of Forest, Environment, Science and Technology from 2007 to 2012 in the Himachal Pradesh government.
Early life
Nadda was born in Bodh village, Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh on December 2, 1960, to Shri Narain Lall Nadda and Smt. Krishna Devi.
Nadda completed his primary education at St. Xavier's School, Patna. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Patna University and an LLB from the Faculty of Law, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla. He was good at swimming and represented Bihar in the All India Junior Swimming Championship held in Delhi.
JP Nadda married Malika Nadda (née Banerjee) in December 1991, and he has two sons. His mother-in-law, Jayashree Banerjee, was also elected to Lok Sabha in 1999.
Political life
The political career of the current BJP head, JP Nadda, started as an activist of the Bihar Movement also called the JP Movement in 1975. Thereafter, he joined ABVB and contested student Central Association elections at Patna University and became secretary in 1977.
He received his bachelor's degree from Patna University and he was actively involved in student politics between 1977 to 1979 in Ranchi.
He then started his political agitation as a student leader from his hometown Bilaspur. Then he moved from Ranchi University to Himachal University, Shimla, where he earned his LLB degree and was also elected as ABVP president.
However, the real journey of Nadda’s political career began in 1993 when he was elected to the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Bilaspur constituency. He was also the leader of his party group during the Legislative Assembly from 1994 to 1998. Resultantly, he was re-elected in 1998, and during his second term in the assembly, he served as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs. Nadda got another term from the Bilaspur constituency in 2007.
He was inducted into the cabinet of the Prem Kumar Dhumal government, and was responsible for Forest, Environment, Science and Technology, from 2008 to 2010.
In the 2012 election, Nadda didn’t seek re-election and rather got elected to the Rajya Sabha. Then in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi included him in his cabinet as the Minister of Health.
Later, he was appointed as the national working president of the BJP in June 2019, and in January 2020, he was unanimously elected as National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the role he took over from Amit Shah.
Controversies
Nadda has been involved in a few controversies during his political career. In 2009, he was accused of misusing government funds while he was the Health Minister of Himachal Pradesh. However, he was cleared of all charges by a court of law.
Recently, a Congress leader, Jaswant Gurjar, filed a petition in court against JP Nadda and BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya for showing Rahul Gandhi as ‘a new age Ravan' over social media posts.
Nadda was also accused of corruption scams during his stint as Union Health Minister worth Rs 7,000 crore scam related to engineering tenders at AIIMS.
In May 2023, a case was filed against Nadda in the Karnataka High Court for Violating Model Code. Later, the court dismissed the petition.
In 2021, JP Nadda was accused of insulting the national flag while paying his respects to the mortal remains of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh in Lucknow.
In 2016, students were protesting over poor facilities and during his visit to Bhopal AIIMS, an unidentified student threw ink on him.
Positions held by JP Nadda
Nadda has held several important positions in the BJP and in the Indian government. Some of his notable positions include:
1993-98, 1998 – 2003 and 2007 – 2012: Member, Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
1994 – 98: Leader, BJP Legislative group, Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
1998 – 2003: Cabinet Minister, Health and Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Himachal Pradesh
2008 – 2010: Cabinet Minister, Government of Himachal Pradesh
April 2012: Elected to Rajya Sabha
May 2012 onwards: Member, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture
August 2012 onwards: Member, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare
May 2013 onwards: Member, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Privileges
2014-2019 – Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare
January 2020 onwards – National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party
2024 – Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare