Chandrashekhar Krishnarao Bawankule

Chandrashekhar Krishnarao Bawankule was the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party – Maharashtra and a Member of 15th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly representing Kamthi Assembly constituency. He was a member of the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Minister for Energy, New and Renewable Energy Maharashtra, Ministry of State Excise (Maharashtra), and also appointed the Guardian Minister of Nagpur on 26 December 2014.

As a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he represented the Kamptee Assembly Constituency, being elected from there in 2004, 2009 & 2014. In 2012, he was made Secretary of the Bhartiya Janata Party, Maharashtra State Unit in Devendra Fadnavis' team. In a cabinet expansion, he was given charge of the state excise department on 10 July 2016.

Political career Bawankule's career commenced in earnest in the early nineties, he started "Chhatrapati Sena" and continued its social work till 1994. In 1995, he joined the Bhartiya Janata Party under the leadership of Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari. In the same year, he became the Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, a youth wing of the BJP in Maharashtra.

In 1997 and 2002, Bawankule was elected as a District Council Member. In 2004, he was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the first time, from Kamthi Assembly constituency. He was reelected twice, in 2009 and 2014. Due to allegations of corruption, the BJP did not give Bawankule the ticket to contest Assembly elections in 2019. It was given to his wife Jyoti instead, but later rescinded from her as well.

Positions held

Within BJP

President, Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra, Since 12 August 2022 Vice President, BJYM Nagpur District (1995) General Secretary, BJP Nagpur District President, Bhartiya Janata Party, Nagpur District Secretary, Maharashtra BJP State Unit (2012-2014)

Legislative

Member, Zilha Parishad, Nagpur (1997 & 2002) Member, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly - Since 2004-2019 Cabinet Minister Maharashtra, Energy, New & Renewable Energy Guardian Minister of Nagpur Member, Maharashtra Legislative Council - Since 2 Jan. 2022 Member, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly - Since 2024-2029