Modi Cabinet 3.0: Mansukh Mandaviya Replaces Anurag Thakur As Union Sports Minister

Mansukh Mandaviya got the Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Monday. (More Sports News)

A Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, Mandaviya was serving as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers of India from 2021 to 2024.

Mandaviya replaced Anurag Thakur as the head of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. Thakur was leading the ministry since 2021.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed the government at the Centre after gaining 293 seats in the recently-concluded General Elections.

Born in Bhavnagar, Gujarat on June 1, 1972, the 52-year-old Mandaviya won the Porbandar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat by defeating his nearest Congress rival Lalit Vasoya by a margin of close to 4 lakh votes. This was the first time Mandaviya contested a Lok Sabha election.

Simultaneously, Mandaviya was also given charge of the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers in the new cabinet unveiled on Monday.

Raksha Nikhil Khadse was appointed the Minister of State of Sports. Khadse is a three-time BJP MP from Maharashtra's Raver. She won the 2024 Lok Sabha election by nearly 3 lakh votes, defeating her nearest rival Shriram Patil from the NCP-Sharad Pawar faction.

Mandaviya has been handed the charge of the sports ministry ahead of the Paris Olympics which begin next month. India is aiming to better its tally of seven medals that they achieved in the last Olympics in Tokyo.