Ahir Hansraj Gangaram

Ahir Hansraj Gangaram, an Indian politician, was born on November 11, 1954, in Nanded, Maharashtra. He has only received secondary-level education, is an agriculturist by profession, and later became a politician through the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the Chandrapur area being his stronghold. His constituency's issues were his focus, and thus, he got connected with the grassroots, and this helped him to have a long career in the parliament.

His political career started with the Maharashtra Legislative Council, where he served from 1994 to 1996, after which he was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha in 1996 from Chandrapur. He was out for a short period, then came back in 2004, getting re-elected in 2009 and 2014, so he was in there for four terms altogether. During this whole period, one of the numerous committees he was a member of was Coal & Steel, Agriculture, Privileges, and Public Undertakings.

Ahir Hansraj became known all over the country for his relentless work in revealing irregularities in the distribution of coal blocks, and he was even able to do it through parliamentary channels and committees, which eventually became a part of the marketing scrutiny of the coal sector. His legislative performance earned him recognition with several Sansad Ratna Awards for excellence in parliament.

In the government of Narendra Modi, he was the Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers (2014–2016) and then the Minister of State for Home Affairs (2016–2019), and with this he was responsible for internal security and national administrative cooperation which he did in a very important way being in a good position.

After his parliamentary career, he was designated as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) in December 2022, the NCBC being a constitutional body reviewing and recommending the inclusion of communities in the backward classes list.

By 2025, he was still the Chairperson of the NCBC and had a strong position in the BJP and national policy circles, known for his familiarity with the role of parliament and administration for a long time.