SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Union Minister of State Shripad Naik, who was allocated Power and New & Renewable Energy portfolio in Modi 3.0, has been a regular face in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government since he was elected as MP for the first time in 1999.
After he was elected from North Goa Parliamentary constituency in 1999, Naik was inducted as Minister of State for Civil Aviation in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government in July 2022.
However, Naik had to sit in the opposition during the Congress-led UPA regime from 2004 to 2014. After he was re-elected as MP for the fourth time in 2014 and after BJP came back to power, Naik was again sworn-in as Minister of State in the Narendra Modi government and was given independent charge of the newly created Ministry of AYUSH. After 2019 polls, Naik was made Union Minister of State for Defence from May 2019 to July 2021 and again made Union Minister of State for Tourism, Ports, Shipping and
Waterways from July 2021 till the 17th Lok Sabha was dissolved on June 5, 2024.
Naik has created a record by winning Lok Sabha election for the six consecutive terms. He broke the record jointly held by him and former Union Minister of State Eduardo Faleiro, who had consecutively won five Lok Sabha polls from South Goa constituency from 1977 to 1996.
