Sharad Govindrao Pawar

For last fifty years, Maharashtra politics has been revolving around Maratha strong man Shri. Sharadchandra  Govindrao Pawar,  and which can be observed during Maharashtra Assembly Elections conducted in 2019, where he played the mighty role fighting the BJP’s massive election machinery and successfully formed the Shivsena - NCP -  Congress  government thought BJP was the  which gave confidence to the opposition parties in the country  that Modi – Shah’s political games can be smashed.   

Shri. Sharadchandra  Govindrao Pawar is the founder and President of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) since 1999.  He has played crucial roles in state and national politics. He has served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra for three times, Defense minister and Agriculture minister of India under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by the Indian National Congress.

Political Journey

• In 1967 he was the:

• Member of Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra
• Congress Legislature Party’s Secretary in Maharashtra
• Pradesh Congress Committee’s General Secretary in Maharashtra

• From 1972 to 1974 he was the Minister of State of Government of Maharashtra for Food, Home, Civil Supplies, Publicity, Rehabilitation, Sports and Youth Welfare.

• From 1974 to 1978 he was the Cabinet Minister of Agriculture, Home, Education, Industries, Youth Welfare and Labour under the Government of Maharashtra.

• From 1978 to 1980 he was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

• From 1981 to 1986 he was the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra.

• From 1982 to 1987 he was the President of Congress (S)

• In 1984 he was elected to the 8th Lok Sabha but he resigned in March 1985.

• From 1988 to 1991 he was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

• In 1991 he was again elected to the 10th Lok Sabha.

• From 1991 to 1993 he served as the Defense Minister.

• From 1993 to 1995 he was a member of the Legislative Council of Maharashtra. He became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

• From 1995 to 1996 he was made the Leader of Opposition of the Legislative Council of Maharashtra

• In 1996 he was re-elected for the third term in the 11th Lok Sabha.

• From 1996 to 1997 he held memberships in Committee on Environment and Forests and Committee on Science and Technology.

• In 1998 he was elected as member of the 12th Lok Sabha for the fourth term. He was made the Leader of Opposition.

• From 1998 to 1999 he was member of:
  • Committee on External Affairs and its Sub-Committee-II
  • General Purposes Committee
  • Ministry of Human Resource Development’s Consultative Committee

• In 1999 he was elected for the fifth time to the 13th Lok Sabha. He became the Leader of NCP in Parliament.

• From 1999 to 2000 he was the member of the General Purposes Committee and the Committee on Agriculture.

• From 2000 to 2001 he was the member of the Committee on Ethics.

• From 2001 to 2004 he was the Vice Chairman of the national Committee on Disaster Management. He was also the Leader of NCP in Parliament in the Lok Sabha.

• In 2004 he was elected for the sixth time to the 14th Lok Sabha.

• From 23 May 2004 he became the Union Cabinet Minister for Consumer Affairs, Public Distribution, Agriculture and Food. He was also the Vice President of the Parliamentary Forum on Water Conservation and Management.

• In 2009 he was elected for the seventh time as a member to the 15th Lok Sabha.

• From 31 May 2009 to 18 January 2011 he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Consumer Affairs, Public Distribution, Agriculture and Food. He was again made the Leader of NCP in Parliament in the Lok Sabha.

• From 19 January 2011 he is the Union Cabinet Minister for Food Processing Industries and Agriculture.

Positions Held in by Sharad Pawar

In the field of social and cultural activities

President of:

• Vasantdada Sugar Institute in Pune.

• Nehru Centre in Mumbai.

• Vidya Pratishthan, Baramati in Pune.

• Rayat Shikshan Sanstha in Satara.

• Agriculture Development Trust in Baramati.

• Y.B. Chavan Pratishthan in Mumbai.

In the field of Sports 

President of:

• Garware Club House

• Maharashtra Kustigir Parishad

• Maharashtra Olympic Association

• Mumbai Cricket Association

• International Cricket Council (ICC)

• Chairman of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) 

Head of:

• Maharashtra Kabbadi Association

• Maharashtra Kho Kho Association

Awards Won by Shri. Sharadchandra Pawar

• Outstanding Parliamentarian Award, 2003 from the then President of India Smt. Pratibha Devsingh Patil.

• Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan, Detroit, U.S.A bestowed him with an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Humanities.

• Book Published on Sharad Pawar : Fast Forward, a book containing a collection of the speeches given by Sharad Pawar was released in 2008 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Manmohan Singh.

• Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, on the recommendation of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government.