Shripad Yesso Naik has been given the Culture (Independent Charge)/ Tourism (Independent Charge) portfolio under the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
Naik is a Member of Parliament from North Goa constituency representing the BJP. In 1999, he was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from Panaji constituency in Goa. As of 2014, he has held his seat in this constituency winning in 2004, 2009 and 2014 elections, and is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha.
In September 30, 2000, he became the Union Minister of State for Agriculture – holding the post till November 2001. After that till May 2002, he got the Shipping portfolio, again as MoS. After that he was shifted to the Civil Aviation Ministry. This position he held till 2003.
From May 2003 – September 2003, he was made the Union Minister of State, Road Transport & Highways and then again shifted as MoS to the finance ministry, a position he held till the end of the Lok Sabha term.
In 2004, he was re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha – his 2nd term. However, the BJP did not return to power and he was relegated to being a member on various committees like Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, Committee on Urban Development. He was also a Member of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism.
In 2009, he was against re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha for his third term with a very slender margin beating his NCP rival Jeetendra Deshprabhu by just over 6,000 votes. This time he had a uneventful term though he was a member of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Urban Poverty Alleviation again.
On May 16, 2014, he was re-elected with a thumping margin to the 16 Lok Sabha his 4th term beating his closest Congress rival Ravi Naik by over one lakh votes.
Naik has been an elected representative since 1984 when he was the sarpanch of village panchayat, Durbhat for two terms till 1993. From 1988-90, he was the general secretary, State BJP and has been in the national executive of the BJP in two stints. The first from 1988-2000, and the second from 2004 onwards. From 1990 to 1995 he was the President, Bharatiya Janata Party, Goa and an MLA from 1994-99. He was also the leader of the BJP Legislature Party from 1995-96.
In the 2014 Lokh Sabha Election he won with a margin of 1,05,000 votes, which is very high for a small state like Goa.
