Vinod Tawde Age, Caste, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Vinod Shreedhar Tawde [1]MyNeta
Profession	Politician
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 172 cm in meters- 1.7 m in feet & inches- 5’8”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Politics
Political Party	Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Political Journey	• In 1995, Vinod joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) where he was appointed General Secretary of BJP-Maharashtra. • In 1999, he became the president of the Mumbai region of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). • In 2008, Vinod was elected to the legislative council of Maharashtra. • In 2011, he was chosen as the leader of the opposition in the legislative council during Prithviraj Chavan’s government. • In 2014, Vinod Tawde won the Maharashtra assembly election from the Borivali constituency. • In 2019, he was appointed National Secretary of the BJP, and in 2021, General Secretary of the party under the presidentship of JP Nadda. [2]The Times of India
Personal Life
Date of Birth	20 July 1963 (Saturday)
Age (as of 2024)	61 Years
Birthplace	Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Zodiac sign	Cancer
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Girangaon, Mumbai
School	• St. Anthonia High School, Santacruz, Mumbai • Parle College, Vile Parle, Mumbai
College/University	• Sant Dnyaneshwar University, Pune, Maharashtra
Educational Qualification (s) [3]Election Affidavit - Vinod Tawde	• Bachelor of Engineering in electronics
Religion/Religious Views	Hinduism
Caste	Maratha [4]The Times of India
Address	C-302, Matoshree Residency, Prarthana Samaj Road, Vile Parle (East), Mumbai – 400057 [5]Election Affidavit - Vinod Tawde
Hobbies	Playing cricket, badminton, and football, reading books
Controversies	• Rucus over fake engineering degree In 2015, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, the leader of the opposition, asked Tawde to resign over his invalid engineering degree in electronics from Sant Dnyaneshwar University, Pune. This university was not recognized by UGC (University Grant Commission) or AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education). The Maharashtra High Court ruled in 2005 that Sant Dnyaneshwar University, Pune, had no authority to grant degrees and the degrees issued before 2005 were invalid. To defend himself, Vinod Tawde told to media that, "I have mentioned it in all my election affidavits and I did not cheat anyone. I did not take any benefits that are due to graduates in passport, nor did I register myself as a voter in Graduates’ Constituency. A bridge course was started at the Vidyapeeth with the objective of imparting practical experience to students along with theoretical knowledge. I took admission to the course in 1980 and passed out in 1984. The course comprised part-time education and part-time internship. I was aware of the fact that the university is not recognised by the government and I was fine with it." [6]DNA • Ordered arrest of a student who was recording the video of public interaction In 2019, Vinod Tawde was interacting with the journalism students of a college in Amravati when a student asked a question about the soaring fee of colleges and unaffordable education, to which Tawde replied, "If you cannot pay the fee then find some employment and leave the idea of study." This whole incident was recorded by a student, Yuvraj Dabad. Reportedly, Tawde asked Yuvraj to delete the video and ordered his arrest. Police followed the orders and detained him for a couple of hours and snatched his mobile phone. [7]CNN-News18 • Cash-for-vote He hit the headlines in November 2024 after an FIR was lodged against him allegedly distributing cash for voting for the BJP in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections. After the complaint, the police seized Rs. 9.93 lakhs from his custody. Later, the BJP released an official statement in which they called the allegations as false and baseless and claimed that the FIR was lodged for a separate issue regarding the violation of the MCC. As per the complaint, Tawde had Rs. 5 crore with him at the beginning of the election campaigning. [8]The Times of India
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	Varsha Pawar Tawde (social worker and writer)
Children	Daughter- Anvee Tawde
Parents	Father- Shreedhar Ramchandra Tawde (RSS member) Mother- Vijaya Tawde (homemaker)
Siblings	Brother(s)- Vilas, Vivek Sister- Jayashree Kadam
Favourites
Beverage	Chai
Actor	Amitabh Bachchan
Idol(s)	Swami Vivekananda, Veer Savarkar
Political Guide(s)	Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani
Style Quotient
Car Collection	Mahindra XUV-500
Money Factor
Assets/Properties	Movable Assets • Cash Rs. 80,000 • Deposits in Banks Rs. 41,79,451 • Bonds, Debentures and Shares in Companies Rs. 1,00,57,700 • LIC or other insurance Policies Rs. 2,14,020 • Motor Vehicles Rs. 15,87,700 • Other assets Rs. 76,86,317 Immovable Assets • Agricultural Land Rs. 15,60,000 • Non-Agricultural Land Rs. 5,40,00 • Commercial Buildings Rs. 43,59,479 • Residential Buildings Rs. 71,09,079 • Others Rs. 6,06,680 Note: The given estimates of movable and immovable assets are according to the year 2014. It excludes the assets owned by his wife and dependents (minor). [9]MyNeta
Net Worth (approx.)	Rs. 3,69,36,675 Note: The net worth was for the financial year 2014-2015. It excludes the net worth of his wife and dependents (minors). [10]MyNeta

Some Lesser Known Facts About Vinod Tawde

• Vinod Tawde is an Indian politician. He is the senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who held several important positions within the party.

• In 1980, Vinod became a member of the ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), a student group associated with the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). He was appointed as the Secretary-General of the ABVP in 1988 and later served as its National Secretary in 1993.

• In 1995, Vinod joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as General Secretary and served for four years.

• In 1999, he became the youngest president of BJP’s Mumbai Metropolitan Region and served for twelve years.

• Vinod Tawde supported mill workers in 2011 by addressing their housing concerns and promising a fair resolution. He also resolved an issue with overdue insurance premiums of 45,000 in the police department.

• He revealed through documentary evidence that despite spending Rs. 70,000 crore, the irrigated area in the state only increased by 1%. He used various legislative measures to pressure the government to establish an inquiry committee, chaired by Madhavrao Chitale, to investigate corruption in the irrigation sector. Vinod Tawde presented a 15,000-page documentary evidence to the Chitale Committee, and the committee’s report found both officers and ministers guilty of corruption.

• Vinod Tawde called for a special session of the state Legislature to present the action taken report (ATR) in relation to the Adarsh housing society scam. However, the government did not take any action on his demand.

• In 2014, Vinod Tawde won the Maharashtra assembly election from the Borivali constituency by a margin of 80,000 votes and became a member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly.

• In 2014, Devendra Fadnavis appointed him to his cabinet as the Minister of School Education, Higher & Technical Education, Marathi Language, Cultural Affairs & Sports.

• During his time as a minister in the Maharashtra government, Vinod implemented several public interest initiatives, including the Human Organ Transplantation Act, the Maharashtra International Education Board, and Pustakanch Gaav.

• The ‘Pustakanch Gaav’ initiative of Vinod Tawde is inspired by Britain’s Hay-on-Wye, a notable Welsh town known for its bookstores. Bhilar in Satara district became the first village of books in India. ^[11]The Hindu
  

  Picture of the Bhilar village leading the initiative Pustakanch Gaav

• He serves as a director of Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, a non-profit organisation that trains socio-political activists in leadership skills.

• Vinod was the key member of the coordination panel of the 12th and 13th general elections.

• He loves animals and has two cats.
  

  Vinod Tawde with his family and cat