Sanjeev Ganesh Naik (born 15 April 1972) is an Indian politician who became the first mayor of the satellite city of Navi Mumbai at the age of 23. He was the

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the List of political parties in India#State parties, state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra with a recognised state party statu ...

(NCP) Member of the 15th Lok Sabha from

Thane (Lok Sabha constituency) Thane Lok Sabha constituency (formerly, Thana Lok Sabha constituency) is one of the 48 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies of Maharashtra state in western India. Assembly segments At present, after the implementation of the President of I ...

in Maharashtra state, elected in the 2009 Indian general election, and is the son of former guardian minister for

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

and NCP member Ganesh Naik.

Education

Naik's educational background has been a matter of some mystery and considerable controversy. According to an affidavit submitted to the Election Commission at the time of the 2014 Lok Sabha Election, he has a 12th pass from the Maharashtra board in Pune, received in 1995. According to his official website as of 2009, Naik has a Diploma in Dairy Development and Management, and an Advanced Diploma in Computer Hardware and Networks. During his 2009 campaign, the title "Dr." was used by Naik in his campaign literature. This referred to a degree awarded by a group in the United States called the "International Tamil University", a private distance-learning organisation which is not accredited to award degrees in the US, but which claims affiliation with established universities in India. During the election, Naik's campaign referred to him as the recipient of a doctorate (D Litt), but in his affidavit to the

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...

, he declared that he had only studied up to the Higher Secondary (School) Certificate (HSC), a school qualification which is below university level. Naik himself claimed to have received the degree for "social commitment", and not as an educational qualification. In April 2009, a petition was filed in

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...

to prevent him from using the title "Dr" in his campaign material.

Political career

Naik was first elected mayor of Navi Mumbai in May 1995 at the age of 23, then again in 2000. In 2003, he was elected mayor for the third time. During his time in office, Naik help lead the establishment of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport initiative and initiated the funding of the Morbe dam project. During his third term as mayor, the

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is the municipal organisation of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. On 17 December 1991 NMMC was constituted. NMMC came in to existence on January 1, 1992. Headquarters NMMC is considered one of the most ...

was awarded First Prize in the first Sant Gadge Baba Cleanliness Drive, a state-level corporation contest. Naik contested from the Thane Lok Sabha Constituency in the 2008 by-election, but was defeated by the Shiv Sena party candidate Anand Paranjape by 90,872 votes. Naik won the MP seat for Thane constituency in the 2009 Lok Sabha Election.

References

External links

* http://www.sanjeevgnaik.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Naik, Sanjeev Living people 1972 births 20th-century mayors of places in India 21st-century mayors of places in India India MPs 2009–2014 People from Thane Marathi politicians Nationalist Congress Party politicians from Maharashtra Mayors of places in Maharashtra Maharashtra municipal councillors People from Navi Mumbai People who fabricated academic degrees Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Politicians from Thane Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra