Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi[2] (born 27 November 1962) is an Indian politician who is Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, 10th Minister of New and Renewable Energy since 2024.[3] He was also the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines of India, from 2019 to 2024 and Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, since 2004, representing the Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency. He was also the State President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Karnataka (BJP) from 2014 to 2016. He served in the panel of chairpersons of Lok Sabha (2014–2018).

Quick Facts Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Prime Minister ...
Pralhad Joshi
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Joshi in 2023
Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Assumed office
10 June 2024 (2024-06-10)
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byPiyush Goyal
Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy
Assumed office
10 June 2024 (2024-06-10)
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byRaj Kumar Singh
Union Minister of Coal
In office
30 May 2019 (2019-05-30)  10 June 2024 (2024-06-10)
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byPiyush Goyal
Succeeded byG. Kisan Reddy
Union Minister of Mines
In office
30 May 2019 (2019-05-30)  10 June 2024 (2024-06-10)
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byNarendra Singh Tomar
Succeeded byG. Kisan Reddy
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
24 May 2004 (2004-05-24)
Preceded byVijay Sankeshwar
ConstituencyDharwad, Karnataka
President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Karnataka
In office
12 July 2012 (2012-07-12)  12 January 2016 (2016-01-12)
Preceded byK. S. Eshwarappa
Succeeded byB. S. Yediyurappa
Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
In office
30 May 2019 (2019-05-30)  10 June 2024 (2024-06-10)
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byNarendra Singh Tomar
Succeeded byKiren Rijiju
Personal details
Born (1962-11-27) 27 November 1962 (age 61)
Bijapur, Mysore State, India
(present-day Karnataka)
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
SpouseJyothi Joshi
Children3
OccupationPolitician
[1]
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Pralhad Joshi first came to public notice with RSS when they organised a movement to hoist the Tri-colour flag at Idagah Maidan Hubli Karnataka during 1992–1994. Recently the Supreme court has upheld the Karnataka High Court order restoring the ownership of the said maidan to The Hubli-Dharwad Municipal corporation. He has been elected to Lok Sabha in the general elections of 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.

On 30 May 2019, Pralhad Joshi was sworn in as a cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term government.

On 13 March 2024, he was announced as the BJP candidate from the Dharwad constituency in the 2024 General Elections, which he has represented for the past three terms.[4]

Early life

Pralhad Joshi was born on 27 November 1962 in Bijapur, Mysore State, India.[5]

Early politics

An industrialist by vocation in his early days, Pralhad Joshi ingratiated himself into the political fray by organising a movement to hoist the Tri-colour flag at Idagah Maidan (also known as Kittur Rani chennamma Maidan) Hubli Karnataka from 1992 to 1994. He also led the "Save Kashmir Movement" during those years, which established him as a known figure in those regions of the state.[6] He was then elected the president of BJP in Dharwad district. He first contested in the 14th Lok Sabha elections in 2004 where he won the Dharwad constituency by defeating INC's B.S Patil.

He's won three consecutive elections from that constituency and is the incumbent MP of Dharwad. In the 2009 General elections, he won by second highest margin amidst 28 constituencies in Karnataka, while most of the ministers and MPs secured a loss in the same year. In 2019, he retained the Dharwad seat for a second term by a margin of over one lakh votes and was subsequently appointed Minister of parliamentary affairs; Minister of coal; and Minister of Mines in Modi's cabinet.[7]

Union Minister

He took oath as the Cabinet minister on 30 May 2019 and became the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines.[8]

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Pralhad Joshi taking charge as the Minister of Coal on 31 May 2019

See also

References

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