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Who is Nitin Gadkari?
Nitin Gadkari is the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, and a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), representing Nagpur in Lok Sabha.
Having assumed office as a Cabinet Minister on June 10, 2024, for the third consecutive term, Gadkari retained his responsibilities overseeing the crucial portfolios of road transport and highways, a role he had effectively managed during the first term of the Modi government.
He had also held the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) portfolio in the previous government. He had Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation portfolios in the first term of the Modi government (from September 3, 2017, until the end of the term). Gadkari also held the positions of Minister for Rural Development from June 4, 2014, to November 9, 2014, Minister for Panchayati Raj from June 4, 2014, to November 9, 2014, and Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation from June 4, 2014, to November 9, 2014.
Early life
Nitin Gadkari was born on May 27, 1957, to Jairam and Bhanutai Gadkari in a Marathi family. He was a member of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad since his teenage years. At the age of 24, he became the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) city president. After that, he was elected secretary of the Nagpur BJP unit.
In 1989, he was first elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council. From 1995 to 1999, Nitin Gadkari was the minister of Public Works Department (PWD). During his stint as the PWD minister, he built several flyovers in Mumbai and was the key person behind the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. He also served as the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1999-2005.
He headed the BJP's Maharashtra unit until 2009 when he became the youngest-ever BJP National President. He headed the BJP from 2009 to 2013.
Education
Gadkari completed his post-graduation in commerce, besides studying law and obtaining a diploma in business management from Nagpur University.
2014 elections
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Nitin Gadkari won the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 285,000. He defeated Vilas Muttemwar, the then Congress MP.
2019 elections
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Gadkari contested from Maharashtra's Nagpur constituency again and defeated his closest rival Nana Patole of the Indian National Congress (INC) by a margin of 216,009 votes. He won 55.67 per cent of the votes cast in the constituency, compared with Patole's vote share of 37.45 per cent. His decisive victory underscored his enduring popularity and support among the electorate.
2024 elections
Gadkari won from the Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency for the third time in a row, defeating his nearest Congress rival by a margin of 137, 603 votes. The senior BJP leader polled 655,027 votes against 517,424 votes received by Congress' Vikas Thakre.