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A police complaint has been filed after the alleged kidnapping of son of Shiv Sena leader and MLA Tanaji Sawant from Pune’s Sinhagad area, according to local Marathi news channels on Tuesday. Reports state that he was taken away in a Swift car around 5 PM from the Narhe area near Sinhagad. Sawant previously served as the state health minister in Eknath Shinde’s earlier government.
Who Is Tanaji Sawant?
Tanaji Sawant hails from Madha taluka in Solapur district and previously worked as a civil engineering professor at Bharati Vidyapeeth University in Pune. While pursuing his academic career, he ventured into the construction business in his 30s. In 1998, he established JSPM Engineering College in Pimpri-Chinchwad and later expanded by founding six more colleges across Maharashtra.
Sawant entered politics in November 2016 when he was elected as an MLC from the united Shiv Sena. With declared assets worth ₹115.45 crore, he was the wealthiest among the six elected MLCs at the time. Shortly after, he was appointed as the Water and Soil Conservation Minister in the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Devendra Fadnavis.
A Maratha Leader
In the 2019 Assembly elections, Sawant won from the Paranda constituency in Dharashiv district. When Eknath Shinde rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership, Sawant was among the first to support the new faction, which is now recognized as the official Shiv Sena. After Shinde became Chief Minister in June 2022 with BJP’s backing, Sawant was appointed as the Health Minister.
However, just four months into his tenure, he stirred controversy within the Maratha community with a remark on their demand for OBC reservation. At a party rally in Dharashiv in September 2022, Sawant, himself a Maratha leader, appeared to suggest that the community had reignited its demand only after the BJP-Shinde Sena government came to power, sparking backlash.
