Mumbai: First time member of parliament (MP) from Maharashtra’s Pune, Murlidhar Mohol, is all set to take oath as a cabinet minister of the Narendra Modi 3.0 government. The swearing-in ceremony will take place in the evening on Sunday at 7.15pm.
“I was at the Prime Minister’s residence after getting a call asking to be present for the oath-taking ceremony. I express my gratitude to the party for giving me such a big responsibility,” said Mohol.
Mohol, fielded as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, defeated Congress’ Ravindra Dhangekar from Pune by a margin of 1.25 lakh votes.
“I was at Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi when I got a call from party president JP Nadda at around 9am. I didn’t expect any such responsibility,” said Mohol, a Maratha face.
Mohol is the only Maratha leader from Maharashtra BJP to be getting ministerial berth especially when Maratha agitation has once again resumed in the state. He is also the only leader from Western Maharashtra, where the party’s stakes are high.
According to party officials, Mohol is being made the minister considering the upcoming state assembly elections later this year.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) has a strong presence in Western Maharashtra having eight MPs. At the same time, NCP chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar is also a guardian minister for Pune district and takes keen interest in the politics of the city.
Mohol was the city mayor during Covid when his work to control the outbreak was appreciated across the state. As the mayor, Mohol gained the confidence of senior party leaders, including PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, and managed to bring them to Pune for various functions.
The four times corporator in Pune Municipal Corporator (PMC) before becoming MP, Mohol hails from Mulshi tehsil on the western part of Pune district.
Mohol, who has completed graduation, also practised wrestling in Pune and Kolhapur. He entered politics in 1996 and became Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha chief for Pune.
