Sharad Pawar

Sharad Pawar Biography

Sharad Pawar is the president and founder of the Nationalist Congress Party. He separated from the Indian National Congress and founded this party in the year 1999. He had held many positions like Minister of Defense and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and currently serving as the Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in Government of India.

Sharad Chandra Govindrao Pawar was born on 12^th December 1940 in the town of Baramati in Pune. He has an important place both in the Indian national politics and regional politics of Maharashtra. From 2005 to 2008, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and in 2010 he became the president of International Cricket Council.

His parents are Govindrao Pawar and Shardabai. He has six brothers and four sisters. All of his family members are well educated. He studied at Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce. He married Pratibha and has one daughter Supriya. His first political act started when he organized a protest march for the Independence of Goa in Pravaranagar in 1956. In 1967 he entered the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the first time representing the Congress Party from Baramati.

He became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the first time in 1978. He won in the Lok Sabha election from Baramati in 1984 and also won in the state assembly elections of March 1985. He resigned from Lok Sabha and preferred to continue in state politics. The alliance of Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party proved to be a stiff challenge to the Congress. He became the chief minister again on 4^th March 1990. He served as the Defense Minister in the cabinet of P. V. Narasimha Rao.

During his tenure he had to face many problems like series of bomb blasts in Maharashtra. As his party lost majority in the 1995 elections he had to step down from the post of Chief Minister. He served as the leader of the opposition party in the state legislative council till Lok Sabha elections of 1996. After 2004 Lok Sabha elections, he joined the United Progressive Alliance government as the Minister of Agriculture. He has also served as the head of various sports organizations. 

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Updated: July 16, 2011