New Delhi, Jun 4 (PTI) Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, a seasoned politician who has been a Rajya Sabha member since 2012, secured his first Lok Sabha election victory on Tuesday.
He defeated Lalit Yadav of the Congress in Rajasthan’s Alwar by 48,282 votes.
The 54-year-old BJP leader from Rajasthan, fighting his first general election after serving as a party office-bearer for over two decades, garnered 6,31,992 votes (50.42 per cent), while Lalit Yadav got 5,83,710 votes.
The Alwar seat, treated as a prestige battle by both the BJP and the Congress, saw the BJP win three times and the Congress 10 times in the past.
Bhupender Yadav began his political career as a student union leader, and he served as the general secretary of the Akhil Bhartiya Adhivakta Parishad from 2000 to 2009.
Before entering politics, Yadav worked as an advocate in the Supreme Court and served as government counsel for significant commissions, including the Liberhan Commission on the Babri Masjid demolition.
He has authored several books on Indian politics and the environment, reflecting his multi-faceted personality and interests in poetry, literature, philosophy, and meditation.
Yadav’s strategic acumen has been evident in his various leadership roles within the BJP, including national secretary and national general secretary.
He was instrumental in the BJP’s victories in the 2023 assembly elections, particularly in his home state of Rajasthan. As the election in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, he led efforts to ensure the BJP retained power in the key Hindi heartland state.
Throughout his political career, the BJP leader has chaired or been a member of at least 25 parliamentary committees.
During his tenure as the environment minister, India strongly defended its interests at international climate conferences.
He successfully advocated changing the term ‘phase-out’ to ‘phase-down’ for coal during the UN climate conference in Glasgow in 2021.
Under his leadership, India’s climate actions were rated the fourth strongest in an annual performance index released by Germanwatch in 2023, up one place from the previous year.
Yadav’s achievements also include the reintroduction of cheetahs in India, a ban on identified single-use plastic items, and an increase in Ramsar sites — wetlands of international importance — in the country.
India made crucial amendments to forest, wildlife, and environmental laws during his tenure. PTI GVS GVS KVK KVK
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