Rajesh Bhagwan

Rajesh Anand Bhagwan, also known as Rajesh Bhagwan, is a Mauritian politician.

Rajesh Bhagwan
Bhagwan in 2025
Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 November 2024
President	Prithvirajsing Roopun Dharam Gokhool
Prime Minister	Navin Ramgoolam
Preceded by	Kavi Ramano
Member of Parliament for Constituency No.20 Beau Bassin Petite Rivière
In office 21 August 1983 – 05 August 1987
In office 30 August 1987 – 20 August 1991
In office 15 September 1991 – 25 November 1995
In office 20 December 1995 – 28 August 2000
In office 11 September 2000 – 10 June 2005
In office 3 July 2005 – 20 April 2010
In office 5 May 2010 – 6 November 2014
In office 10 December 2014 – 10 October 2019
In office 7 November 2019 – 4 October 2024[1]
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 November 2024[2]
Personal details
Born	British Mauritius
Political party	MMM
Occupation	Meter Reader

Occupation

Rajesh Bhagwan worked as a meter-reader for the Central Electricity Board (Mauritius) before joining politics.^[3][4]

Political career

Rajesh Bhagwan was elected as Member of Parliament in Constituency No.20 Beau Bassin Petite Rivière for the first time in 1983. Since then has been re-elected at every General Election that has been held in that Constituency of Mauritius. He also holds the office of Secrétaire Général of the MMM.^[5]

As a result of the 2024 General Elections Bhagwan was sworn in as Minister of the Environment as part of the new Alliance du Changement government led by Navin Ramgoolam and Paul Bérenger.^[6][7]

Controversies

Drinking Lysol and 2019 electoral campaign

During the campaign leading to the 2019 general elections in Constituency No.7 Piton Rivière-du-Rempart, senior figures of the MMM, including Rajesh Bhagwan, announced that they would not form an alliance with any other party. This news disappointed a loyal MMM-supporter to the point that he yelled back "This is political suicide. Go buy Lysol and distribute it to all regional branches of the MMM!", in reference to an infamous claim made earlier by Rajesh Bhagwan that he would rather drink disinfectant Lysol rather than work with disgraced politician Navin Ramgoolam again.^[8]

Personal attacks against Roshi Bhadain and his family

In August 2024 and in preparation for the 2024 Mauritian general election Rajesh Bhagwan belittled his younger adversary Roshi Bhadain by calling him names, stating that he's already killed Bhadain and that Bhadain is already dead. These public attacks prompted Bhadain to denounce Bhagwan, and to demand more respect, given the decades that Bhagwan has been elected in Constituency No. 20 and the large amount of taxpayers' money that Bhagwan has earned as a result.^[9]

On 9 October 2024 Rajesh Bhagwan again attacked Roshi Bhadain at a public meeting held by L’alliance du changement (Ptr-MMM-ND-ReA), mocking Bhadain whom he claims will not be elected even if the Reform Party promises 2000 reforms, and that Bhadain will not be elected even if Bhagwan himself dies. Bhagwan went further by also mocking Bhadain's wife and daughter who have been calling voters in Constituency No. 20 as part of the campaign leading to the November 2024 General Elections. Bhadain's daughter responded via social media that she will continue to campaign for the Reform Party despite "uncle" Rajesh Bhagwan's attempts to intimidate her by publicly calling her an idiot.^[10][11]