Arjun Modhwadia is an Indian National Congress politician from Porbandar Gujarat, India. He was the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from 2004 to 2007. He had been a president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), the Gujarat wing of Indian National Congress from 2 March 2011 to 20 December 2012.

Early life and career

Arjun Modhwadia was born at Modhwada, a village near

Porbandar Porbandar is a city in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It is the administrative center of the Porbandar District and it was the former capi ...

, 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 Lukhdhirji Engineering College, popularly known as L.E. College or LEC Morbi is located in the Morbi district. It was established as a polytechnic in 1931, then known as Morvi Technical Institute (MTI) and was upgraded to a full-fledged degree ...

in Morbi. He became Senate member of Saurashtra University 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 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; an organization working for Tuberculosis patients, since 2004.

Political career

He joined Indian National Congress in 1997. In 2002, he contested assembly election and won. In 2002, he became a member of Delimitation Commission of India for Gujarat (Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies). He was also appointed a member of the Estimate Committee. He was the

of Gujarat Legislative Assembly 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 (BJP) candidate

Babu Bokhiria Babubhai Bokhiria (born 12 March 1953) is an Indian politician and member of BJP. He was twice elected as an MLA in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in 2012 and 2017. Education Babubhai Bokhiria holds a B.Sc. in chemistry from Saurashtra Univ ...

. 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 An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

for calling Narendra Modi, 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