BHUBANESWAR: From Minister of State (Independent charge) of Petroleum and Natural Gas three years back to Cabinet Minister of two key portfolios, Dharmendra Pradhan has got the perfect icing on the cake in shape of Skill Development Ministry.
While this may have come as a Dussera gift from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Pradhan for his stellar performance in achieving the pro-poor initiative by providing over 2.5 crore free LPG connections to households and persuading more than one crore LPG consumers to give up their cooking gas subsidies, it has been years of hard work and perseverance for the man from Angul district of Odisha.
From his days as an ABVP activist to managing elections in several States, he has done it all. With this promotion, the national BJP leadership has clearly projected Pradhan as the alternative to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the party will fight next Assembly election under his leadership, sources in the party said.
In 2014, Pradhan was one among the few in the Narendra Modi Cabinet to have been given an important portfolio despite the fact that he represented Bihar in the Upper House. Considered to be very close to the Prime Minister and BJP president Amit Shah, Pradhan was rewarded for delivering good results in the last three years.
To reach where he is now, the 48-year-old has risen through the ranks. Active in student politics, Pradhan charted his political career from ABVP, the student wing of Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was elected as the president of students’ union of Talcher college in 1985.
With his active participation in the students’ movements in Odisha, he was elected as the national secretary of ABVP and subsequently of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) from 2004 to 2006. While he was the president of the Yuva Morcha, he participated in campaigns related to reservations on the basis of religion.
Son of former Union minister Debendra Pradhan, Dharmendra entered active politics with his successful election from Pallahara Assembly Constituency in 2000. He was conferred with Utkalmani Gopabandhu Pratibha Samman, the best legislative award for his performance in the Assembly.
His entry into national politics came in 2004 when his father left Deogarh Lok Sabha seat in 2004. Though he lost the subsequent elections, Pradhan consolidated his position in the national organisation of the BJP by occupying several important positions including general secretary.
When he was the general secretary of the party in 2010, Pradhan was in charge of Jharkhand BJP. He was also the organiser of party activities in Karnataka and Uttarakhand and instrumental in resolving many crisis in the southern State.
Though his stint in national politics was not very long, Pradhan managed to secure a place in the Modi Cabinet and became a strong voice of the State at the Centre.