All you need to know about Pankaj Chaudhary, new MoS in FinMin

Pankaj Chaudhary, BJP’s six-time MP from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh, is the new Minister of State (Finance) in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s refurbished Cabinet. The 57-year-old has replaced a younger Anurag Thakur, who has been elevated as the Union minister for Information and Broadcasting, Youth Affairs and Sports in Wednesday’s Cabinet reshuffle. Chaudhary is considered the face of the BJP in Maharajganj. His inclusion in the council of ministers ahead of the UP elections next year assumes extra significance.

From Councillor to MP

Born in Gorakhpur—UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s turf— Chaudhary graduated from Gorakhpur University. He started his political journey as a councillor in the Municipal Corporation of Gorakhpur. Later, he went on to become an MP. He won the Lok Sabha elections from Maharajganj for the sixth time in 2019. Chaudhary was elected as an MP in 1991, 1996, 1998, 2004 and 2014.

Chaudhary was first elected as a councillor in 1989 and he remained the deputy mayor of Gorakhpur during 1990-91.

In 1991, Chaudhary got a big role in the state BJP. He became a member of its executive committee and subsequently won the Lok Sabha elections.

After his second victory in the 1996 polls, he served as a member of many parliamentary committees.

Choudhary won the mid-term elections in 1998  and followed it up by another victory in 2004.

Setback in 2009 LS polls

However, the next Lok Sabha elections in 2009 broke his streak of consecutive victories when he lost to Harsh Vardhan of Congress. It was a bad loss for Choudhary as he stood third in the elections.

But the BJP kept its trust in Choudhary. He got the BJP ticket again in the 2014 elections and won for the fifth time. However, he could not find a place in the Union Cabinet then.

A Cabinet berth eluded him even after his sixth victory in 2019. But his long wait came to an end on July 8 when he was sworn in as a minister in the first expansion of the Modi government 2.0.