Arvind Sawant was Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in the Modi Government
The Shiv Sena faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray has fielded former Union Minister Arvind Sawant from Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency.
Here are 5 key points about Arvind Sawant:
1. Arvind Sawant was born on December 31, 1951, in Sindhudurg district to Ganpat Pandurang Sawant and Aashalata Ganpat Sawant. He holds a BSc degree from Bhavan's College in Mumbai. He began his career with the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) before venturing into politics.
2. He joined Shiv Sena at a young age of 17 in 1968. During this period, he served as a polling agent and actively participated in protests organised by the party. He also joined the Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti, advocating for job opportunities for locals. In 1995, Mr Sawant quit his job for a full-time role in politics. The following year, he was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council. He served as a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) between 1996 and 2002.
3. In 2010, Arvind Sawant was appointed as the spokesperson of Shiv Sena. In the 2014 general elections, he contested from the Mumbai South constituency and defeated Milind Deora of Congress by a margin of over 1.2 lakh votes.
4. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Mr Sawant retained the South Mumbai seat for a second consecutive term by defeating Milind Deora with a margin of over 1 lakh votes.
5. He was appointed as the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in the Narendra Modi government following his re-election. Mr Sawant resigned from his ministerial position in November 2019 after a rift between Shiv Sena and BJP.