Jagat Prakash Nadda (born 2 December 1960) is an Indian politician from Himachal Pradesh who was national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party from January 2020 to January 2026. He is the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and of Chemicals and Fertilizers, and Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha. He was earlier Health Minister from 2014 to 2019, when the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme was launched.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Jagat Prakash Nadda |
| Born | 2 December 1960, Patna, Bihar, India |
| Age | 65 |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Offices | National President, BJP (2020–2026); Minister of Health and Family Welfare (2014–2019; 2024–present) |
| Parliament | Rajya Sabha (since 2012) |
| Education | St. Xavier’s School, Patna; Patna College (B.A.); Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla (LL.B.) |
| Spouse | Dr Mallika Nadda (m. 1991) |
| Children | 2 sons |
Early Life
Nadda was born in Patna, where his father, Narain Lall Nadda, taught at Patna University and later became its vice-chancellor. The family’s roots are in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. As a schoolboy he represented Bihar in swimming. He took part in Jayaprakash Narayan’s movement in the mid-1970s, joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and moved to Shimla for his law degree, where he led the students’ union.
Political Career
He became national president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in 1991. He was elected to the Himachal Pradesh assembly from Bilaspur in 1993, 1998 and 2007 and served as the state’s Health Minister and later Forest Minister.
He moved to Delhi as a party general secretary in 2010 and entered the Rajya Sabha in 2012. As Union Health Minister from November 2014 he expanded the Mission Indradhanush vaccination drive and in 2018 launched Ayushman Bharat, which offers hospital cover of five lakh rupees a year to poor families.
He became working president in June 2019 and succeeded Amit Shah as national president on 20 January 2020. Under him the BJP won Uttar Pradesh again in 2022 and several other states, lost Karnataka and his home state of Himachal Pradesh, and in the 2024 general election returned to power with 240 seats, short of a majority on its own. He rejoined the cabinet in June 2024 and continued as party president until a successor took over in January 2026.
Personal Life
His wife, Mallika, taught history at Himachal Pradesh University; her mother, Jayashree Banerjee, was a BJP member of the Lok Sabha. They have two sons.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was J. P. Nadda born?
J. P. Nadda was born on 2 December 1960 in Patna, Bihar, India and is 65 years old.
Featured image: J. P. Nadda (right), then Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, addresses a press conference, Shimla, 29 May 2018. Photo by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
