New Delhi, Jun 4 (PTI) BJP's Mansukh Mandaviya rose through the party ranks to become the Union health minister at a time when the entire country was in grip of COVID pandemic.
He is now set to win from Porbandar constituency, according to trends revealed by the Election Commission on Tuesday.
Fighting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time after being a Rajya Sabha member for two terms, Mandaviya was pitted against the opposition Congress's Lalit Vasoya from the seat.
Known as "Green MP" for his penchant for cycling to Parliament, Mandaviya, 51, has been steadily rising through the party ranks even since he associated with the BJP as a youth.
He currently heads the ministries of health and chemicals and fertilizers.
He was entrusted with the health portfolio in the middle of 2021 when the nation was still battling the COVID-19 crisis. He replaced Harsh Vardhan, who was dropped from the Council of Ministers as part of a reshuffle.
Simultaneously, Mandaviya was given the charge of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. There, he replaced D V Sadananda Gowda as a consequence of a similar reshuffle.
At the time of his appointment, he was holding independent charge of the Shipping Ministry and was a Minister of State for the Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry.
Born in a farmer's family in the small village of Hanol in Palitana taluka of Bhavnagar district in Gujarat, Mandaviya has been actively involved in politics since his youth when he joined Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the RSS' student wing, and soon became a state executive committee member of the ABVP's Gujarat unit.
Mandaviya became the youngest member of the Gujarat legislative assembly in 2002. He was appointed as the secretary of BJP Gujarat in 2013 and the general secretary the next year.
In 2014, he was appointed as the Gujarat state in-charge of BJP's high-tech and mega membership drive campaign which saw over 1 crore people joining the saffron party in the state.
Mandaviya got his first big break in administration when Narendra Modi, the then chief minister, appointed him as the chairman of Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Limited.
A veterinary doctor, Mandaviya is a political science postgraduate from Bhavnagar University. He also holds a PhD from the Gujarat Institute of Development and Research, Ahmedabad.
Mandaviya was first inducted into the Union cabinet as an MoS for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Chemicals and Fertilisers on July 5, 2016.
On May 30, 2019, he was again sworn in as MoS for Chemicals and Fertilisers with an independent charge of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
He was first elected in Rajya Sabha in 2012 and re-elected in 2018.
As the health minister, he oversaw the implementation of the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country, which led to over 220 crore doses being administered.
Mandaviya's team is also instrumental in rolling out the flagship Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission to make health services accessible.
One of the major highlights during his tenure has been the launch of Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, aimed at eliminating the disease five years ahead of the SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) target of 2030.
During the severe second wave of Covid-19, Mandaviya as Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers was charged with the task of ramping up the supply of oxygen and medicines.
Under his leadership, the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers set up over 10,600 Jan Aushadhi stores which provide over 850 kinds of medicines at affordable rates under the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana.
During his tenure, the ministry in 2022 launched an ambitious scheme of converting over 3.3 lakh retail shops of fertilisers into Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samruddhi Kendras.