Who is Mansukh Mandaviya – the new Sports Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet – Firstpost

Mansukh Mandaviya was appointed as the new Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet was announced on Monday. Mansukh Mandaviya replaces Anurag Thakur as Union Sports in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet.

Mansukh Mandaviya defeated his Congress rival Lalit Vasoya by 3.83 lakh votes in the 2024 general elections to win the Porbandar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat. Apart from the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Mansukh Mandaviya has also been entrusted with the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

Who is Mansukh Mandaviya?

Mansukh Mandaviya was born on June 1, 1972 in Hanol, a small village in Palitana taluk of Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. Mandaviya first entered politics after becoming a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP. He was the secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Patilana from 1994 to 1996. Between 1998 and 2003, Mandaviya also served as the Taluka president of the Patilana unit of the BJP.

He was a member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2007. Between January 2011 and March 2012, he served as the Chairman of Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Ltd. In 2012, Mandaviya was first elected to the Rajya Sabha and six years later, in 2018, he was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2018.

In 2021, Mandaviya was given the health portfolio as India fought a tough battle against COVID-19. At that time, he had replaced Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was removed from the Council of Ministers in a reshuffle.

The Mandaviya ministry was then tasked with increasing the supply of oxygen and medicines and overseeing the vaccination program during the severe second wave of COVID-19. In the new government, the Ministry of Health was entrusted to JP Nadda.

The just concluded elections are Mandaviya’s first Lok Sabha election. The outgoing Thakur was among the 37 ministers excluded from the third successive Modi government. Thakur had held the post since July 7, 2021 and served as the Sports Minister for almost three years.

India produced its best performance at the Olympics during his tenure, winning a record seven medals at the Tokyo Games just weeks after taking over from Kiren Rijiju following a reshuffle.

He was also at the helm of affairs when the government decided to make medalists of all Khelo India competitions eligible for government jobs after a review of the criteria.

When this was announced in March, Thakur said the move was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “vision of a strong sports ecosystem, nurturing talent at the grassroots level and transforming sports into a lucrative and viable career option “. During Thakur’s tenure as sports minister, India also began launching an ambitious bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games for the very first time.

Optimistic about India winning hosting rights, Thakur has always maintained that part of the credit for the country’s improved sporting performance goes to the government’s flagship Khelo India initiative, launched in 2017 and who receives the lion’s share of the budget allocation.

Thakur, who started his political career in 2008 and represented Hamirpur constituency in Himachal Pradesh five times, had also estimated that the country would be among the top five medal-winning nations in the world.

With PTI inputs