Vasudev Meng Gaonkar (born 16 February 1961) is an Indian politician. He is a former member of the

Goa Legislative Assembly The Goa Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the state of Goa in India. The Assembly meets at the Goa State Legislative Assembly Complex in Porvorim, Bardez. The Eighth Goa Legislative Assembly consists of 40 members. The assem ...

, representing the Sanguem Assembly constituency from 2002 to 2012. He is the current serving president of the BJP Kisan Morcha in the

Government of Goa The Government of Goa is a state government created by the Constitution of India and has executive, legislative and judicial authority of the state of Goa. It is headquartered in Panaji, the capital city of Goa. History The governor's is large ...

Early and personal life

Vasudev Meng Gaonkar was born at

Curdi Kurdi or Curdi is a village in Sanguem taluka of Goa. The village was submerged in the 1980s by the reservoir of the Salaulim Dam. Every year, at the peak of summer during April–May, parts of the submerged village rise above the water level fo ...

, Goa to Meng Shambu Gaonkar and Parvati Meng Gaonkar, he belongs to the scheduled tribe community. He completed his

Secondary School Certificate Secondary School Certificate (SSC), Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or Matriculation examination, is a public examination in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal conducted by educational boards for the successful completi ...

from Sacred Heart of Jesus High School,

in 1982. Gaonkar has also completed a course in diesel mechanic from Government Industrial Training Institute,

Curchorem Curchorem (Kudchade) is a city and municipal council in the South Goa district of Goa, India. Curchorem is a part of the Quepem taluka and is a twin town with Sanvordem, both located on either side of the Zuari River. The town is self-suffic ...

in 1984. He is married to Vanita Gaonkar, the couple has two children.

Career

Gaonkar was a ten-year term member of the

. He first contested in the

2002 Goa Legislative Assembly election Elections for the Indian state of Goa took place 2002. Parties contested Results Results by constituency The following is the list of winning MLAs in the election. * Winner, runner-up, voter turnout, and victory margin in every constituen ...

from Sanguem Assembly constituency on the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) ticket and emerged victorious. He defeated

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC) candidate, Satyawan Bhadru Dessai by a margin of 837 votes. He then successfully contested in the

2007 Goa Legislative Assembly election Elections in the Indian state of Goa took place on 2 June 2007. Counting of votes began on 5 June, and the election process was completed by 8 June. Results Results by constituency By-elections Government formation Indian Nation ...

from the same consistency on the BJP ticket, he lost to INC candidate, Minguelino D'Costa by a margin of 2,305 votes. On 3 January 2017, Gaonkar quit the BJP party to join the

Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party ( MGP) is a political party in India. It was Goa's first ruling party after the end of Portuguese rule in Goa in 1961. The party has its base amongst non-Brahmin Hindu migrants from Maharashtra and their desce ...

(MGP) due to not being "respected as a senior partyman" even after he was denied the party ticket ahead of the

2012 Goa Legislative Assembly election The Goa legislative assembly election was held on 3 March 2012, to select the 40 members of the Sixth Goa Legislative Assembly, as the term of 5th Goa Legislative Assembly ended in March 2012. The result was announced on 6 March. The Bharatiya ...

, Gaonkar stated that the BJP party had "cold shouldered" him, despite his contribution in the party's victory in the 2012 election. He next unsuccessfully contested in the

2017 Goa Legislative Assembly election The 2017 Goa Legislative Assembly election was held on 4 February 2017 to elect the 40 members of the Seventh Goa Legislative Assembly, as the term of Sixth Legislative Assembly ended on 18 March 2017. VVPAT-fitted EVMs was used in entire Goa ...

from the Sanguem constituency on the MGP ticket and lost to

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate, Prasad Gaonkar by a margin of 7,152 votes. In August 2020, Gaonkar quit MGP after serving for more than three years to join the BJP party. On 4 September 2020, he was elected as the president of Goa BJP Kisan Morcha at the presence of Goa BJP President,

Sadanand Tanavade Sadanand Shet Tanavade (born 31 January 1967) is an Indian politician who served as the president of Bharatiya Janata Party, Goa. He is a member of the Rajya Sabha, and a former Member of Legislative Assembly in the Goa Legislative Assembly f ...

Positions held

* Member of Committee on Government Assurances (2002–2003) * Member of Committee on Delegated Legislation (2002–2003) * Member of Library Committee (2002–2003) * Member of Committee on Public Undertakings (2002–2003) * Member of Committee on Panel of Presiding Members (July 2007 – 2012) * Member of Privileges Committee (September 2007 – 2012) * Member of Budget Committee (September 2007 – 2012) * Member of Demands related ''Ad hoc'' Committee on Agriculture and Forests (April 2008–August 2008) * Member of Demands related ''Ad hoc'' Committee on Agriculture and Forests (27 April 2009 – 2012) * Member of Budget Committee (9 September 2009 – 2012) * Member of Panel of Presiding Members (9 September 2009 – 2012) * Member of Committee of Privileges (9 September 2009 – 2012)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaonkar, Vasudev 1961 births Living people Goa MLAs 2002–2007 Goa MLAs 2007–2012 Politicians from South Goa district