Prakash Javadekar promoted for Paris, clearances

Contrary to speculation that environment minister Prakash Javadekar may be asked to go back to party work, the former member of the Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday turned out to be the only minister of state (MoS) in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to be elevated to Cabinet rank.

However, whether he would remain in the environment ministry or be given charge of some other portfolio was not clear. Mr Javadekar is believed to have been rewarded for his role in climate change talks in Paris and in reducing the number of days taken to grant environment clearances.

During his over two years in the environment ministry, he is believed to have approved thousands of projects involving an investment of about '10 lakh crore that were pending for years.

It has been a turnaround for Mr Javadekar, who was earlier stripped of the charge of two key departments of information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs as MoS.

He was included in the Council of Ministers even when he was not an MP and was given the charge of three key departments — independent charge of environment ministry and information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs.

However, the latter two were taken back from him.

A former banker, Mr Javadekar, 65, was a member of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students’ wing of the RSS. During his earlier days, he organised a satyagraha against Emergency rule and was also imprisoned for 16 months.

He was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council twice between 1990 and 2002 before being first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2008. He currently represents Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha.

Hailing from Pune, Mr Javadekar, who is a commerce graduate, was one of the most visible faces of the BJP on TV before the party came to power.