Prithviraj Chavan Biography

Prithviraj Chavan was chosen as the 22nd Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 11 November, 2011. He succeeded Ashok Chavan of Congress who resigned as Chief Minister in the wake of the Adarsh Housing Society Scam.

Prithviraj Chavan is a Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Karad in Satara district. He won the Lok Sabha seat from Karad three times.

As an Engineer and technologist Chief Minister, he sought and obtained environmental clearance for the much delayed Navi Mumbai Airport.

Background

He was born on March 17, 1946 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His father Late Shri Anandrao Chavan was a Lok Sabha MP and served as a Minister under three Prime Ministers- Jawarharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Indira Gandhi ministries. His mother, Smt Premlabai was elected to Lok Sabha from Karad following her husband's death. She served as an MP for consecutive terms till her death in 1991.

Prithviraj Chavan was educated at BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan, where he did a BE in Mechanical Engineering. He followed it by MS from The University of California at Berkeley. He plays Cricket, Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis, and Golf and is interested in research in the computerization of Indian languages.

He is married to Smt Satvasheela. They have one daughter and one son.

Political Career Though he has been a member of the Congress party since 1973, he entered active politics after his mother's death and contested the Lok Sabha election from Karad, his family constituency, in 1991. He won the election to the 10th Lok Sabha. He then served as member of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Science and Technology, Electronics, and Atomic Energy.

He was reelected to the 11th Lok Sabha from the same constituency in 1996 and held the position of the Deputy Chief Whip of the Congress parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha. He was a member of the Committee on Energy and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance.

In 1998 he was again reelected to the 12th Lok Sabha. He then served on Lok Sabha Consultative Committee for Ministry of Home Affairs and the Committee on Government Assurances. He, however, lost the Lok Sabha election in 1999. He became the Spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee in 2001.

In 2002 he was elected to the Rajya Sabha and then reelected again in 2008. In 2009 he was given the independent charge as Minister of State for the Ministry of Science and Technology. He was also appointed Minister of State for Ministry of Personnel, Public grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, and the Ministry of Earth science.

He was handpicked by the Congress party to assume the office of the Maharashtra Chief Minister following the resignation of Ashok Chavan.