Arjun Modhwadia is an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

politician from Porbandar

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the

Gujarat Legislative Assembly Gujarat Legislative Assembly or Gujarat Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Gujarat, in the state capital Gandhinagar. Presently, 182 members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected from single-member c ...

from 2004 to 2007. He had been a president of

Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) is the state unit of the Indian National Congress in Gujarat. Jagdish Thakor is the president of the Committee. It has 1,862 seats in various urban and rural local bodies in Gujarat. Its office is l ...

(GPCC), the

wing of

from 2 March 2011 to 20 December 2012.

Early life and career

Arjun Modhwadia was born at Modhwada, a village near Porbandar, on 17 February 1957. His schooling was at government primary school of the village. He graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Lukhdhirji Engineering College in

Morbi Morbi or Morvi is a city in the Morbi district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. , the city's population was determined to be 194,947. The city is on the Machhu River, from the sea and from Rajkot. Hi ...

. He became Senate member of

Saurashtra University Saurashtra University is a university in Gujarat state in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most po ...

as a Registered Graduate constituency representative in 1982 to 2002. In 1988 he also became a member of the Executive Council of the university. He worked as an assistant engineer with the

Gujarat Maritime Board Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) is a government agency of the Government of Gujarat, a state of India. It was founded in 1982 to control, manage and operate the minor ports of Gujarat. History The GMB was founded in 1982 under the Gujarat Maritime Bo ...

for 10 years. He left his job in 1993 and entered politics. He is married to Hiraben and has a son and a daughter. He is associated with Maldevji Odedra Smarak Trust, Dr. Viram Godhania Mahila Arts, Commerce, Home Science and Computer Science College since 1988. He is a president of Gramya Bharati High School, Bayavadar since 2002 and a trustee of Sorath Kshay Nivaran Samiti,

Keshod Keshod is a town (Now a City) and a Taluka in Junagadh District. History on the name It has been told by many old aged people of this city that the name of the city came from a very interesting incident happened during the Mahabharata time. K ...

; an organization working for

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

patients, since 2004.

Political career

He joined

in 1997. In 2002, he contested assembly election and won. In 2002, he became a member of

Delimitation Commission of India The Delimitation commission or Boundary commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the vari ...

for Gujarat (Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies). He was also appointed a member of the Estimate Committee. He was the Leader of the Opposition of

from 2004 to 2007. He was re-elected in 2007 and from 2008 to 2009 he was also the chairman of the media committee and Chief Spokesperson of GPCC. On 2 March 2011, he was selected as a 27th president of GPCC. He also resigned from the post of president of GPCC on 20 December 2012 following defeat. He again lost in assembly election in 2017 against

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

(BJP) candidate Babu Bokhiria. He was elected from Porbandar constituency again in

2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly election was held in Gujarat from 1 to 5 December 2022 in two phases, to elect 182 members of 15th Gujarat Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 8 December 2022. The Bharatiya Jana ...

as an INC candidate defeating his nearest rival and BJP candidate Babu Bokhiria.

Controversy

In November 2012, he was served with a show cause notice from Election Commission for calling

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

, a ''Monkey''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Modhwadia, Arjun Indian National Congress politicians 1957 births Living people Leaders of the Opposition in Gujarat People from Porbandar district Gujarat MLAs 2002–2007 Gujarat MLAs 2007–2012 Gujarat MLAs 2022–2027