Madhusudan Mistry

Madhusudan Devram Mistry (born 3 January 1945) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress.

Early life

Madhusudan Mistry was born to Devaram Gopalram and Tulasiben in Ahmedabad, in 1945. He obtained an M.A. in Geography, and worked as a college lecturer in Ahmedabad.

In 1977, Mistry went to Oxford on a scholarship for a development studies course. DISHA was envisaged as a supportive core group for a network of smaller organizations of people fighting against exploitation.

Mistry was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha on a Congress ticket in 2001, in a bye-election from Sabarkantha. He was subsequently re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from Sabarkantha in 2004, and served as member on several parliamentary committees. In 2014 he was nominated to Rajya Saha by Congress party and continues to represent Gujarat till 2020.

Congress Working Committee

In 2011, Mistry was appointed as one of the General Secretaries of the All India Congress Committee. He was appointed to the Congress Working Committee, and also made in-charge of the party in Kerala, Karnataka and Lakshadweep.

Mistry is a member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) under the MGNREGA program. In 2013, he toured Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to assess and point out anomalies in the implementation of MGNREGA schemes in these two states. He acquired reputation as Rahul Gandhi's Man Friday, and as a man who works behind the scenes. Within Congress, he was credited for the Kerala and Karnataka victories. However, several political analysts observed that the Congress victory in Karnataka was a result of the crisis in BJP's state unit and Mistry had spent little time in Kerala. Mistry was the chairman of the screening committee for selection of candidates for the 2013 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, which Congress lost. A Congress leader Raghu Parmar accused Mistry of taking money for giving tickets. Parmar was later expelled from the party. Subsequently, in response to a legal notice issued by Mistry, he issued a public apology for making "false and defamatory" allegations.

2014 Lok Sabha elections

Mistry was a member of Rahul Gandhi led election coordination committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi deployed Mistry as a "one-man mission" to tour the country and gather feedback about the prospective candidates at the grassroots level. Mistry is also head one of the three sub-groups of election coordination committee.

Mistry was the Indian National Congress candidate against BJP's prime-ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Vadodara. He lost to Modi by 5,70,128 votes - the highest margin in the 2014 elections, and the second highest ever in the history of Indian general elections.

Personal life

Mistry married Meenaben on 27 May 1969. The couple has a son and three daughters.