Mahesh Poddar
{{Short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mahesh Poddar
| birth_date = 14 November 1949
| constituency = Jharkhand
| office = MP of Rajya Sabha for Jharkhand[http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/rajya-sabha-polls-mukhtar-abbas-naqvi-mahesh-poddar-jharkhand-bjp-2847742/ Rajya Sabha polls: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Mahesh Poddar win in Jharkhand]
| term_start = 8 July 2016
| term_end = 7 July 2022
| predecessor = Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, INC
| successor = Mahua Maji, JMM
| nationality = Indian
| spouse = Nirmala Poddar
| party = Bharatiya Janata Party
| residence = Ranchi, Jharkhand
| alma_mater = St. Xavier's College, Ranchi and M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore
| profession = Industrialist/Politician
| website = www.mikiwire.co.in
| footnotes =
| smallimage =
| image = Mahesh Poddar.jpg
}}
Mahesh Poddar was a member of Rajya Sabha from the Jharkhand constituency. He is an industrialist from Jharkhand.
He was the candidate for the biennial 2016 Rajya Sabha polls from Jharkhand. He won the polls by a narrow margin when his tally was increased using second preference votes. He got 2664 vote numbers as compared to 2600 vote numbers received by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha nominee Basant Soren.
Personal life
He is the son of Late Shri Kedarnath Poddar, a wholesale cloth merchant from Gumla, Jharkhand. After completing his schooling in Gumla High School and St. Xavier's College, Ranchi, he moved to Bangalore to do his Mechanical Engineering from M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology.{{Cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040311/asp/ranchi/story_2989668.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812015650/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040311/asp/ranchi/story_2989668.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 August 2016|title=The Telegraph - Ranchi|newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Kolkata |access-date=2016-06-17}} He is married to Nirmala Poddar and they both reside in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
Career
A well known businessman; he started his career with establishing Miki Wire Works Pvt. Ltd. in the year 1977{{Cite web|url=http://www.mikiwire.co.in/|title=mikiwire Works private limited|website=MikiWire |access-date=2016-06-17}} in Mahilong, Ranchi. In the career span of almost forty years, he has expanded his wire manufacturing capacity to all parts of the country - Visakhapatnam, Bangalore and Nagpur.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mikiwire.co.in/|title=mikiwire Works private limited|website=MikiWire |access-date=2016-06-17}}{{primary source inline|date=July 2016}} Manufacturing mainly pre-cast concrete wire in a varied range of diameters to cater to the infrastructure industry.
He has been actively involved in various groups and organisations, namely:
- Past Chairman - Steel Wire Manufacturers Association of India (2003-2006){{Cite web|url=http://swmai.org/content.php?cms_id=7|title=SWMAI|website=swmai.org|access-date=2016-06-17}}
- Past President - Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce & Industries, Ranchi (1994-1995){{Cite web|url=http://www.fjcci.org/past-presidents|title=Past Presidents {{!}} Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce & Industries|website=www.fjcci.org|access-date=2016-06-17}}
- Past President - Jharkhand Small Industries Association{{Cite web|url=http://www.jsia.co.in/about-jsia/office-bearers/|title=Office Bearers {{!}} Jharkhand Small Industries Association|website=www.jsia.co.in|access-date=2016-06-17}}
- Director - Wire Association International{{Cite web|url=http://www.wirenet.org/|title=wirenet.org - Official website of The Wire Association International, Inc.|website=www.wirenet.org|access-date=2016-06-17}}
- Present member of Bureau of Indian Standards sub-committee on Long Products
- Present Trustee with Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir Trust of Art of Living, Bangalore{{Cite web|url=https://ssrvm.org/about-us/trustees/|title=Trustees {{!}} Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir|website=Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir|access-date=2016-06-17}}