MUMBAI: From his stint as a student leader in the RSS-affiliate ABVP to becoming a key member of the BJP's coordination panel for the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha elections to working as a minister in the previous Maharashtra government in 2014, Vinod Tawde has always been an organisation man for the saffron party.
The senior BJP leader, believed to be a political rival of former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, was elevated to the post of general secretary of BJP on Sunday ahead of assembly elections in five states, including politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand.
Tawde, who was the national secretary of the BJP, was elevated to the post of general secretary to fill up a vacancy created after Bhupender Yadav became Union minister.
Tawde began his political career as a student leader in the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
He went on to serve as the All India general secretary of ABVP.
He had also worked as the BJP organising secretary, north Maharashtra, before becoming the state BJP general secretary.
Tawde later became an MLC and then the Leader of Opposition during 2011 and 2014.
He had served as the president of the Mumbai BJP unit as well.
He was a key member of the coordination committee of the BJP for the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha polls.
Tawde became an MLA for the first time from the Borivali assembly constituency in Mumbai in 2014.
From 2014 to 2019, Tawde was Education Minister in the Fadnavis government.
He was denied a ticket to contest the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls.