Prithviraj Chavan was the 22nd Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a state in Western India.
Chavan is a graduate of Birla Institute of Technology and Science and University of California
in mechanical engineering.
He spent time working in the field of aircraft instrumentation and designing audio recorders
for anti-submarine warfare in the US before returning to India and becoming an entrepreneur
in 1974.
Referred to in the media as a technocrat with a clean, non-controversial image, a low-profile
leader.
Chavan served as the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office in the Ministry
of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions.
Chavan was also General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee, in-charge of many states,
including Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh.
Chavan was drawn into politics after meeting with Rajiv Gandhi.
He has been involved in the Indian National Congress bureaucracy for most of his adult
life, notably as a member of the Rajya Sabha and later architect of the civil nuclear liability
bill.
He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991 and followed it up in subsequent elections.
Chavan held five portfolios in the United Progressive Alliance government that includes
the ministry of science and technology.
He became chief minister of Maharashtra in 2010 at the instance of Congress President
Sonia Gandhi succeeding Ashok Chavan.
He resigned as the chief minister of Maharashtra after the ruling NCP-Congress alliance split
in the state.
Early life Chavan was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh
on 17 March 1946.
His parents were Dajisaheb Chavan and Premalakaki Chavan.
He is the eldest of three siblings.
His younger sisters are Nirupama Ajitrao Yadav-Deshmukh and Vidyulata Venkatrao Ghorpade.
Dajisaheb was a member of the Lok Sabha from the Karad constituency from 1957 to 1973 & served
as a Minister in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and
Indira Gandhi.
Upon Dajisaheb's death in 1973, Chavan's mother Premalakaki contested from her late husband's
constituency and was elected in the by election in 1973 and in the general elections of 1977,
1984, and 1989 serving till her death in 1991.
Chavan began his schooling at a local Municipal Marathi-medium school in Karad.
After his father moved to Delhi, Chavan joined Nutan Marathi School in Delhi.
Chavan graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and
Science, Pilani.
After graduation in 1967, he won a UNESCO scholarship in Germany and later moved to
pursue a Master of Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
He wrote articles on computer science; engineering design; and also contributed to research in
computerization.
He also worked briefly in the USA as a design engineer, working on defence electronics,
anti-submarine warfare, and computer storage systems.
Political career Chavan started his political career in 1991;
his name was proposed by Mr. Hindurao Sakharam Jagtap as the Congress party nominee in place
of his late mother, and went on to win the family seat of Karad thrice, in 1991, 1996
and 1998 but lost in 1999.
He was a Minister of State for the ministries of Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry
of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of
Parliamentary Affairs and in charge of Prime Minister's Office.
Earlier he was also the Minister of State in charge of the Department of Atomic Energy.
Chavan replaced Ashok Chavan as chief minister after the latter's involvement in the Adarsh
Housing Society scam forced him to resign.
Reasons for his choice reported by the media included the perception that he had a "clean
image" and that he did not have his own faction of political supporters within the state.
One of his first actions as Chief Minister was to play a role along with Civil Aviation
minister Praful Patel, in convincing Jairam Ramesh, the Minister for Environment And Forests
in obtaining environmental clearance for the planned second airport in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai
International Airport.
Personal life Chavan married Satvasheela on 16 December,
1976.
They have a daughter, Ankita and a son named Jai.
Ankita married on 11 November, 2013 in Delhi.
Posts held 1991-92 Member, Consultative Committee for
the Ministry of Science and Technology.
1992-93 Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Ministry of Environment and Forests.
1994-96 Member, Standing Committee on Finance and Planning.
1996-99 Member, Committee on Provision of Computers to Members of Parliament.
2000-01 Spokesperson, All India Congress Committee.
2002-04 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence.
2004-22 May 2009 and 28 May 2009 onward Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.
2010-25 Sept 2014 - Chief Minister of Maharashtra References
External links
Official Website Article on Rediff
Prithviraj Chavan named new Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan - India Today Profile