From 1995 to 1999, Nitin Gadkari was the minister of Public Works Department (PWD)
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will seek re-election from the Nagpur seat in Maharashtra in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Mr Gadkari, a two-time Parliamentarian, is the longest-serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways currently running his tenure for over nine years.
Here are some facts about Nitin Gadkari:
1) Nitin Gadkari was born on May 27, 1957, to Jairam and Bhanutai Gadkari in a Marathi family. A member of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad since his teenage years, he completed his MCom and LLB from Nagpur University.
2) 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. Much like several other BJP leaders, the Emergency was a turning point in Mr Gadkari's life as well. He actively took part in the movement against Emergency, marking the beginning of what was going to be a glorious four-decade-long political career.
3) 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.
4) Mr Gadkari, considered to be close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), 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.
5) 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. In 2019, he retained his seat defeating Congress' Nana Patole.