Arvind Sawant

Arvind Ganpat Sawant (born 31 December 1951) is an Indian politician from the Shiv Sena party. He had been the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises since 2019 and a Member of Lok Sabha since 2014. On 11 November 2019, Sawant quit as union minister in Modi government due to ongoing power tussle between Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena in follow up to 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election.[1]

Arvind Sawant
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
16 May 2014
Preceded byMilind Deora
ConstituencyMumbai South
Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
In office
30 May 2019 – 11 November 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byAnant Geete
Succeeded byPrakash Javadekar
Member of Legislative Council, Maharashtra
In office
2002–2010
ConstituencyBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
In office
1996–2002
ConstituencyNominated
Personal details
Born (1951-12-31) 31 December 1951
Bombay, Bombay State, India
Political partyShiv Sena
Spouse(s)Anuya Sawant
ResidenceMumbai
WebsiteArvind Sawant

Early life

Sawant was born on 31 December 1951[2] to Ganpat Pandurag and Aashalata Ganpat Sawant. He has received a B. Sc. degree from Bhavan's College of Mumbai.[2] His family are middle-class. Prior to joining politics, he worked as an engineer with the state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, the largest landline provider in Mumbai and Delhi.[3][4][5]

Political career

Early politics

In 1968, Sawant started his political career with Shiv Sena as a 'gat pramukh', the lowest rank of the party hierarchy. During this time, he worked as a polling agent and also participated in various protests which were organized by the party. He also joined Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti, which worked to demand jobs for the local people.[5]

Electoral politics

In 1995, Sawant took voluntary retirement and joined Shiv Sena.[5] In 1996, he was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council.[6] In the council, he raised issues pertaining to slum development, demanded prominence for Marathi language, and demanded housing for the mill workers. Although he managed to get elected to the council twice, he lost the election during his third attempt as the party was short of numbers in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.[4] In 2010, he was made the deputy leader and the official spokesperson of the party. During his tenure as the party spokesperson, he defended the party in news channel debates at a time when the party was criticised for its policy on migrants to Mumbai.[4]

In the 2014 Indian general election, the party announced that Sawant would contest from the Mumbai South constituency. He was considered a "weak candidate" by India Today compared to his main competitor, Milind Deora of the Indian National Congress party.[4] Sawant defeated Deora by a margin of approximately 120,000 votes.[7] His attendance record in the Lok Sabha was more than 90%.[4] He was also one of the members who presented the highest number of private-member bills.[4] He served as a member of the Estimates Committee, Standing committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and Committee on Estimates.[2]

In the 2019 Indian general election, Sawant defeated Deora by more than 100,000 votes.[8] Subsequently, he was made the minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.[9] On 11 November 2019 he had to resign from the Modi government cabinet because of power tussle between Shivsena and BJP [10]

Personal life

On 25 May 1982, Sawant married Anuya Arvind Sawant. They have one son and one daughter.[2]

References
  1. "Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant to quit as Union minister". The Times of India. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  2. "Sawant, Shri Arvind Ganpat". Lok Sabha. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  3. "MTNL remains relevant for telecom, its sustainability important for customers, market: CMD". The Economic Times. 22 April 2019. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  4. "Arvind Sawant: A former government employee to a Union minister". India Today. 30 May 2019. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  5. "From managing poll booths to Union minister, Sena's Arvind Sawant gets into Modi cabinet". The Times of India. 30 May 2019. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  6. "Arvind Sawant: from MTNL officer to Union Minister". The Hindu Business Line. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  7. "Rude jolt for Congress stalwarts in Mumbai". The Hindu. 17 May 2014. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  8. "Know your Minister: Arvind Sawant - Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise". Money Control. 31 May 2019. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  9. "Rashtrapati Bhavan: Press Comminique" (PDF). India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  10. "Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant announces resignation as minister, says no trust left | India News - Times of India". The Times of India.
Lok Sabha
Preceded by
Milind Deora		 Member of Parliament
for Mumbai South
16 May 2014 – Present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Anant Geete		 Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
30 May 2019 – 11 November 2019		 Succeeded by
Prakash Javadekar
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