Born in a Brahmin family on January 30, 1951, Prakash K. Javadekar hails from Maharashtra's cultural, academic and IT capital - Pune. A Bachelor of Commerce graduate from University of Pune, the 68-year-old was active in politics from his student days.

He was active during the Emergency and was arrested and jailed for nearly 16 months for leading several agitations and protests in those days.

After playing different roles in the party's youth wing - Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, he later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), serving in various positions including state party Secretary, was elected twice to the Maharashtra Legislative Council, and later to the Rajya Sabha.

During the first term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Javadekar served first as a junior minister handling several portfolios - Parliamentary Affairs, and later Information and Broadcasting, and also Environment, Forest and Climate Change (both ministries as independent charge).

In the 2016 cabinet reshuffle, he earned the trust of Modi and was allotted the critical Human Resource and Development Ministry and has contributed hugely to the development, improvement and streamlining of various educational systems in the country.

At the party level, he is the official BJP national spokesperson, a post which he earlier held even in Maharashtra.