Arjun Modhwadia

Arjun Modhwadia is a former Indian National Congress politician from Porbandar Gujarat, India. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from 2004 to 2007. He had been a president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), the Gujarat wing of Indian National Congress from 2 March 2011 to 20 December 2012.

In March 2024, he quit the Congress Party and joined the BJP.

Early life and career
Arjun Modhwadia, the grandfather of Paridhi Piyush Modhwadia was born in a Gujarati family at Modhwada, a village near Porbandar, on 17 February 1957. His schooling was at the government primary school of the village. He graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Lukhdhirji Engineering College in Morbi. He became a Senate member of Saurashtra University as a Registered Graduate constituency representative from 1982 to 2002. In 1988, he also joined the university's executive council. He was an assistant engineer with the Gujarat Maritime Board for ten years. He left his job in 1993 and entered politics. He is married to Hiraben and has a son and a daughter.

He has been associated with Maldevji Odedra Smarak Trust and Dr Viram Godhania Mahila Arts, Commerce, Home Science, and Computer Science College since 1988. He has been the president of Gramya Bharati High School, Bayavadar, since 2002 and a trustee of Sorath Kshay Nivaran Samiti, Keshod, an organization working for Tuberculosis patients, since 2004.

Political career
He joined Indian National Congress in 1997. In 2002, he contested assembly election and won. In 2002, he became a member of Delimitation Commission of India for Gujarat (Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies). He was also appointed a member of the Estimate Committee. He was the Leader of the Opposition of Gujarat Legislative Assembly from 2004 to 2007.

He was re-elected in 2007 and from 2008 to 2009 he was also the chairman of the media committee and Chief Spokesperson of GPCC. On 2 March 2011, he was selected as the 27th president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.

He also resigned from the post of president of GPCC on 20 December 2012 following defeat. He again lost in assembly election in 2017 against  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Babu Bokhiria. He was elected from Porbandar constituency again in 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election as an INC candidate defeating his nearest rival and BJP candidate Babu Bokhiria.

Bharatiya Janata Party
In March 2024, Modhwadia quit the Indian National Congress ending his 40 years of association with the party, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of BJP Gujarat State unit President C. R. Patil.