Chairman of the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, Suresh Kashinath Haware, has been accorded the Minister of State (MoS) status in the Maharashtra government, reported ANI.
Haware is the latest to join the league of temple trust chairpersons and Hindu religious priests being accorded the MoS rank in the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) ruled states.
Who is Suresh Haware?
Haware, a BJP leader from the Belapur constituency, is also the Managing Director of Haware Engineers and Builders Private Limited, a reputed name in the real estate market of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane.
Haware contested the 2009 elections from Belapur.
A former nuclear scientist, Haware holds a BSc Tech degree and a PhD from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
On 19 June, chairperson of Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak temple trust, Aadesh Bandekar, was accorded the MoS rank by the Maharashtra government. Bandekar, a former Marathi TV star, is also a leader of the Shiv Sena, BJP’s bickering ally in the state.
Babas Becoming Ministers
In Madhya Pradesh, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government accorded the rank of MoS to five babas in April this year – Narmadanand Maharaj, Hariharanand Maharaj, Computer Baba, Bhayyu Maharaj and Pandit Yogendra Mahant.
Madhya Pradesh is slated to go to polls later this year.
(With inputs from ANI and Maharashtra Times.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)