New Delhi, BJP Gujarat state unit president Chandrakant Raghunath Patil has been appointed as the new Jal Shakti Minister in the recently formed cabinet.
The immediate task for Patil is to complete the ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide tap water to every rural household in the country by the end of this year.
Additionally, he will oversee the Namami Gange project, another important initiative under the ministry.
Patil will replace Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Along with Patil, V. Somanna and Raj Bhushan Choudhary have been appointed as ministers of state in the Jal Shakti Ministry.According to an official statement, Somanna also holds the role of Minister of State in the Railway Ministry.
Patil, 69, started his career as a constable in Gujarat Police in 1975, a post he held till 1984.
After leaving the police force, Patil entered the media industry and founded Navgujarat Times, a Gujarati daily newspaper, in 1991.
Patil's political journey began in 1989 when he joined the BJP. He initially served as the Treasurer of Surat City and later as the Vice President of Surat City BJP.His organizational skills led the then Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel to appoint him as the Chairman of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) in 1998.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Patil won the newly formed Navsari constituency seat, which was chosen by the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
He retained the seat in the 2014 and 2019 elections with historic victories and substantial margins.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Patil won remarkably with 1,031,065 votes, defeating his nearest rival by 773,551 votes.
He has contributed significantly to the organizational strength of the BJP and has served on various influential committees including the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs and the General Purposes Committee in the Lok Sabha.73-year-old BJP leader V. Somanna, who had earlier contested against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the assembly elections, is now part of the new Union Council of Ministers led by Prime Minister Modi as Minister of State in the ministry.
Despite earlier speculations about his possible shift to the Congress, Somanna remained with the BJP and won the Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency, defeating Congress's SP Muddahanumegowda by a margin of 175,594 votes.
The Lingayat leader started his political career as a member of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from 1983 to 1987. Over the years, he has been associated with all three major political parties in the state: Janata Dal (East), Congress and Janata Dal (East). BJP.Another minister of state in the ministry is 46-year-old Raj Bhushan Nishad, who lost the 2019 elections from Muzaffarpur as a Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) candidate. This time he contested on a BJP ticket and defeated Congress candidate Ajay Nishad. . More than 2.3 lakh votes.
A doctor by profession, Nishad joined the BJP after the 2019 elections and was appointed state BJP vice president as the party eyed the votes of Mallahs and other allied castes.
The immediate task for Patil is to complete the ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide tap water to every rural household in the country by the end of this year.
Additionally, he will oversee the Namami Gange project, another important initiative under the ministry.
Patil will replace Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Along with Patil, V. Somanna and Raj Bhushan Choudhary have been appointed as ministers of state in the Jal Shakti Ministry.According to an official statement, Somanna also holds the role of Minister of State in the Railway Ministry.
Patil, 69, started his career as a constable in Gujarat Police in 1975, a post he held till 1984.
After leaving the police force, Patil entered the media industry and founded Navgujarat Times, a Gujarati daily newspaper, in 1991.
Patil's political journey began in 1989 when he joined the BJP. He initially served as the Treasurer of Surat City and later as the Vice President of Surat City BJP.His organizational skills led the then Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel to appoint him as the Chairman of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) in 1998.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Patil won the newly formed Navsari constituency seat, which was chosen by the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
He retained the seat in the 2014 and 2019 elections with historic victories and substantial margins.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Patil won remarkably with 1,031,065 votes, defeating his nearest rival by 773,551 votes.
He has contributed significantly to the organizational strength of the BJP and has served on various influential committees including the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs and the General Purposes Committee in the Lok Sabha.73-year-old BJP leader V. Somanna, who had earlier contested against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the assembly elections, is now part of the new Union Council of Ministers led by Prime Minister Modi as Minister of State in the ministry.
Despite earlier speculations about his possible shift to the Congress, Somanna remained with the BJP and won the Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency, defeating Congress's SP Muddahanumegowda by a margin of 175,594 votes.
The Lingayat leader started his political career as a member of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from 1983 to 1987. Over the years, he has been associated with all three major political parties in the state: Janata Dal (East), Congress and Janata Dal (East). BJP.Another minister of state in the ministry is 46-year-old Raj Bhushan Nishad, who lost the 2019 elections from Muzaffarpur as a Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) candidate. This time he contested on a BJP ticket and defeated Congress candidate Ajay Nishad. . More than 2.3 lakh votes.
A doctor by profession, Nishad joined the BJP after the 2019 elections and was appointed state BJP vice president as the party eyed the votes of Mallahs and other allied castes.
