BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar.
Credit: PTI Photo
Political Party: BJP
Parliamentary Constituency: Chandarpur, Maharashtra
Catapulting from student politics to becoming part of the top-5 BJP leaders in Maharashtra, Sudhir Mungantiwar, has come a long way and the journey ahead could be full of surprises. The 62-year-old Sudhir Bhau, as he is popularly known, is currently the Forest Minister in the Eknath Shinde-led Maha Yuti government. With a strong RSS background, Mungantiwar had been the Maharashtra BJP president and was once among CM probables.
Mungantiwar is a six-time MLA - thrice from Chandrapur and after delimitation thrice from Ballarpur. In 1989 and 1991, he unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha polls from Chandrapur. However, since 1995, he has won all the Vidhan Sabha polls. When Devendra Fadnavis became Chief Minister, he was the Finance and Planning and Forest Minister and launched a mission to save wildlife.
In the Shinde government, he was not given the Finance ministry. Instead, he retained the forest minister portfolio and in addition, was given Cultural Affairs. The Marathi patriotic and iconic song - ‘Jai Jai Maharashtra Maza, Garja Maharashtra Maza’ was made the state song thanks to his efforts. He also ensured that government employees would now say ‘Vande Mataram’ when receiving calls.