Veteran RSS leader, former Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde new Rajasthan Governor
Fondly called Nana, he is well known for his passion for agriculture and is widely respected for his exceptional political career despite his humble origins in the state’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, erstwhile Aurangabad.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi called me yesterday to inform me that I would have to leave Maharashtra. He also asked me not to reveal it to anyone,” he told reporters about his new assignment as governor.
“I have been associated with the RSS since I was 12-13 years old and have completed its three-year course. Till 1980, I was a member of the Jana Sangh. I like challenges. Perhaps I was chosen for this post because of my work in the party for so many years,” he added.
Bagde said his colleague Devendra Fadnavis, who is currently the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, has appointed him as the assembly speaker.
“I have never asked for any post. The party leadership at the state level may have suggested my name for the governor’s post. I will try to do full justice to this new assignment,” he said.
Bagde has also been accused by the opposition of not listening to their views while he was speaker of parliament.
After the formation of the MVA government, when Congress leader Nana Patole became the Speaker of the Assembly, some MLAs made veiled remarks against Bagde.
The BJP leader, addressing the House, recounted that selling milk on a two-wheeler in cold weather during his formative years had led to hearing loss in his left ear.
Bagde (79) first became an MLA in 1985 and represented Phulambri for five terms. He became the employment guarantee scheme minister when the Shiv Sena-BJP came to power in 1995, and in 2014, he was appointed Speaker of the Assembly after Fadnavis became chief minister.
He said he was the first to receive formal education in his family, which was involved in social work, adding that he wanted to take up a job but his RSS mentor told him to get involved in agriculture.
Farming has become a lifelong passion for Bagde, who named his home Phualmbri Krushi Yog.
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