Prithviraj Dajisaheb Chavan | |
|---|---|
 Chavan in 2009 | |
| 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra | |
| In office 11 November 2010 – 28 September 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Ashok Chavan |
| Succeeded by | President's rule |
| Leader of the House Maharashtra Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 11 November 2010 – 26 September 2014 | |
| Speaker | Dilip Walse-Patil |
| Preceded by | Ashok Chavan |
| Succeeded by | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office | |
| In office 22 May 2004 – 25 September 2010 | |
| President | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Ministry |
|
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 13 March 2002 – 20 September 2010 | |
| Constituency | Maharashtra |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 3 May 1991 – 20 June 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Premala Chavan |
| Succeeded by | Shriniwas Patil |
| Constituency | Karad |
| Member of Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 19 October 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Vilasrao Balkrishna Patil |
| Constituency | Karad South |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 March 1946 Indore, Indore State, British India (present-day Madhya Pradesh, India) |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse |
Satvasheela Chavan (m. 1976) |
| Residence(s) | Kumbhargaon, Maharashtra |
| Alma mater | BITS, Pilani (B.E.) University of California, Berkeley (M.S.) |
Prithviraj Chavan (Marathi pronunciation: [prut̪ʱʋiːɾaːd͡ʑ t͡səʋʱaːɳ]) (born 17 March 1946) is an Indian politician who was the 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2010 to 2014. Chavan is a graduate of BITS Pilani and University of California, Berkeley in mechanical engineering. He spent time working in the field of aircraft instrumentation and designing audio recorders for anti-submarine warfare in the US before returning to India and becoming an entrepreneur in 1974. Referred to in the media as a technocrat with a clean, non-controversial image, a low-profile leader. Chavan served as the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions. Chavan was also General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), in-charge of many states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh.
Chavan was drawn into politics after meeting with Rajiv Gandhi. He has been involved in the Indian National Congress bureaucracy for most of his adult life, notably as a member of the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the India's Parliament) and later architect of the civil nuclear liability bill. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991 and followed it up in subsequent elections. Chavan held five portfolios in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that includes the ministry of science and technology. He became chief minister of Maharashtra in 2010 at the insistence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi succeeding unrelated Ashok Chavan. He resigned as the chief minister of Maharashtra after the ruling NCP-Congress alliance split in the state.