Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | Meet the leader: Mahadev Jankar

Political Party: Rashtriya Samaj Paksha

Parliamentary Constituency: Parbhani, Maharashtra

Though he keeps a low profile, Mahadev Jankar is a mass leader in his own right and has a tremendous grassroots connection. The 55-year-old is the founder-president of Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) and is the candidate of BJP-led Maha Yuti from Parbhani in the Marathwada region.

Hailing from the Dhangar community, Jankar was born in a shepherd family in a small village at Palsawade in Maan in Satara district. Jankar started his political career by joining BSP under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. Then he became the chief of Yashwant Sena, a cultural organisation.

In 2003, he founded RSP and in 2009, contested the Madha seat and came third behind NCP founder Sharad Pawar and BJP’s Subhash Deshmukh. In 2014, he contested the Baramati seat against Supriya Sule and lost. When the Fadnavis-led BJP-Shiv Sena dispensation came to power, he was made an MLC and appointed the Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Department. Jankar would take on Shiv Sena (UBT)’s sitting MP Sanjay Jadhav.