Vinod Sridhar Tawde (Marathi pronunciation:[ʋinoːd̪ t̪aːʋɖeː]; born 20 July 1963) is an Indian politician fromMaharashtra and a senior leader of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was the General Secretary forMaharashtra unit of the party, President for Mumbai, All India National Executive Council Member and a key member of co-ordination Committee of the BJP for the 12th and 13thLok Sabha Election.
Vinod Tawde was the minister for School Education, Higher and technical education, Sports and Youth welfare, Minority development as well as Marathi Bhasha (Language) and culture;[1] this is his third consecutive term as the Member of the Legislative Council of Maharashtra. Earlier, he was the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.p
Vinod Tawde was born on 20 July 1963 in aMaratha family[2] in theGirangaon area ofBombay (present-day Mumbai).[3]
Vinod Tawde is aHigher Secondary School Certificate holder from Sathaye College (previously known as 'Parle College'). After passing theHigher Secondary School Certificate examination, Tawde pursued a vocational course fromDnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth, Pune which is an Educational Trust that provides technical training courses. He is not a degree holder.
Vinod Tawade is a member of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood.He was a full time worker of Akhil Bharatiys Vidyarhi Parishad(ABVP).As a head of the Mumbai unit of the ABVP, he showed his courage and leadership by achieving many firsts in the history of the ABVP and also in the students world then in Mumbai.
In 1995, Vinod Tawde was first named as the Maharashtra General Secretary of the BJP and he served up to 1999. Once again in 2002, he was assigned the responsibility; he served the term up to 2011.[4] In 1999, Vinod Tawde was elected as the President of the Mumbai Metropolitan Unit of the BJP. He enjoys the record of being the youngest candidate elected for this position.[5] Vinod Tawde is on the board of directors ofRambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, a non-profit organisation that provides leadership training to socio-political activists.
In Maharashtra assembly election - 2014Vinod Tawde elected as Member of Legislative assembly of Maharashtra fromBorivali assembly constituency. He was sworn in as a minister of school education and sports, higher and technical education, medical education, Marathi Bhasha and cultural affairs at an extravagant ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 31 October 2014.[6]
Vinod Tawde consistently supported mill workers who raised their housing concerns; he assured them a fair and just resolution.[7][8] Vinod Tawde resolved the issue of overdue insurance premium of 45,000 in the police department.
Vinod Tawde demanded an early completion of memorial of ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea which was long pending and was first proposed in 1980.[9] He demanded a tweak in law to bring Shivaji Park out of the silence zone stating that the park has a rich political history and prohibiting public rallies out there was not a good precedent.[10][11] Between 1999 and 2003, there took a preferential allotment of over 20 hectares of MHADA land spread over 67 plots in Mumbai at throwaway prices to politicians or their trusts by a state sub-committee comprising a handful of Congress and NCP ministers. In 2012, Vinod Tawde asked the chief minister,Prithviraj Chavan to take back those plots where there was nothing built until then.[12] In the interest of creating employment and self-employment opportunities for SC youth, he urged that MIDC should allot plots to organisations like DICCI on priority basis. Vinod Tawde ensured that the Koli brethren was given priority at the time when the municipal markets was being redeveloped. In their difficult times, Vinod tawde stood by the Konkan mango farmers. He urged that they should be compensated for crop loss;[13] however the government did consider his proposal. Vinod Tawde exposed the fact that investigation in the case of murder of journalist J Dey was on a wrong track and Jigna Vora has been purposefully implicated in the case.[14][15]
Vinod Tawde was the first leader to demand a separate budget for agriculture[16] and he consistently proposed measures that the government should implement to enhance agriculture productivity and prevent farmer-suicides. In connection to the Adarsh housing society scam, Vinod Tawde demanded a special session of the state Legislature to table the action taken report (ATR);[17] however the government took no action. He also demanded a SIT probe into wakf land allotments.[18] With the help of a documentary evidence, Vinod Tawde exposed the fact that even after spending Rs. 70,000 crore, irrigated area in the state increased by only 1%.[19] He used various legislative devices to compel the government to establish an enquiry committee under chairmanship of Madhavrao Chitale for investigation of corruption in irrigation sector. He presented a 15,000-pager documentary evidence[20] before the Chitale Committee; the report of the committee held not only officers but also ministers guilty of corruption. Vinod Tawde condemned government's decision to start a textile park in Baramati; in his opinion the government should have selected a cotton producing district to set up the facility.[21] He further pointed out that the textile policy announced by the government was non beneficial for farmers.[citation needed]
Vinod Tawde obtained a AMIE fromDnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth, Pune. This a technical course. However, Dnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth is not associated with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) or theDirectorate of Technical Education, MaharashtraArchived 11 March 2017 at theWayback Machine.[22][23][24] The Bombay High court had in a 2005 order, said that Dnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth does not have any rights to award degrees, and that the degrees issued even before 2005 were invalid.[25]
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly,Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, has demanded Tawde's resignation over his bogus degree.[26] In defence of Tawde,Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra said that Tawde never suppressed the fact and there was no need for him to resign.[27][28] During2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, BVA workers accused Vinod Tawde of distributing money in a hotel,a day before polling, in spite of MCC in force so that no outsider must be in a constituency after campaigning ends.However money, as claimed 5 crores, was not found.[29]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Cabinet Minister for Education, Maharashtra State December 2014–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Cabinet Minister for Culture, Maharashtra State December 2014–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Maharashtra State Guardian Minister for Mumbai Suburban district December 2014–present | Incumbent |
