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 asse ...

, 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 role is ...

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 ...

, Goa to Meng Shambu Gaonkar and Parvati Meng Gaonkar, he belongs to the scheduled tribe community. He completed his Secondary School Certificate from Sacred Heart of Jesus High School,

in 1982. Gaonkar has also completed a course in diesel mechanic from Government Industrial Training Institute, Curchorem 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. Results Results by constituency The following is the list of winning MLAs in the election. By Elections Government formation On 3 June 2002, Bharatiya Janata Party formed its f ...

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. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

(BJP) ticket and emerged victorious. He defeated

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

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

2007 Goa Legislative Assembly election Elections for the Indian state of Goa took place 2 June 2007. Counting of votes began 5 June and the election process was completed by 8 June. Results Winning candidates By-elections Government formation Indian National Congres ...

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 (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 Sixth Legislative Assembly ended on March 2012. The result was announced on 6 March. The Bharatiya Jan ...

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

from the Sanguem constituency on the MGP ticket and lost to Independent candidate,

Prasad Gaonkar Prasad Gaonkar (born 30 August 1976) is an Indian politician. He was elected to 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 Legis ...

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 July 1967) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the Bharatiya Janata Party state president of Goa, a member of Rajya Sabha, and a former Member of Legislative Assembly in the Goa Legislative Assembl ...

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 People from South Goa district