Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant won the national election from Mumbai South

Arvind Sawant has been proposed by the Shiv Sena for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government. He was sworn in today as a Cabinet minister. Arvind Sawant won the national election from Mumbai South, defeating his nearest rival, Congress's Mumbai chief Milind Deora.

"From Shiv Sena one leader will take oath as a minister. It has been decided that one Lok Sabha MP from each NDA ally will become a minister. Uddhav (Thackeray) ji has given Arvind Sawant's name. He will take oath as a minister," Sanjay Raut told news agencyANI.

Arvind Sawant, 67, not only retained his parliamentary seat but also won by over one lakh votes.

He was an engineer with Mahanagar Telephone Network Ltd (MTNL) in the past.

In 1995, he took voluntary retirement after being nominated to the Maharashtra Legislative Council when the BJP-Shiv Sena government came to power.

He contested the Lok Sabha election for the first time in 2014 and defeated Milind Deora.

Arvind Sawant is a deputy leader of the Shiv Sena, which has 18 lawmakers in the new Lok Sabha.

(With inputs from ANI)