Joshi was born in a Marathi-speaking family hailing from Raigad district in Maharashtra, India. His forefathers migrated from Beed district to Goregaon village of Raigad district. He married on 14 May 1964 to Smt. Anagha Joshi, and has a son, Unmesh, and two daughters, Asmita and Namrata. Girish Vyas is his son-in-law. The case of Sundew Apartments led to the resignation of Joshi and a subsequent favourable judgment by The Supreme Court of India for petitioner Vijay Kumbhar. The building is now being used for a school.
Formation of Kohinoor
After MA in law he joined in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation as an officer, but later started the Kohinoor technical/vocational training institute with the idea of an institute for semi–skilled youths to offer training as electrician, plumber, TV/radio/scooter repairman, photography. Eventually, he started multiple branches of Kohinoor in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, etc., and later he made an entry in construction and other capital-oriented business. Manohar Joshi also founded the Kohinoor Business School & Kohinoor-IMI School of Hospitality Management in Khandala, Maharashtra. Later on took Chancellorship of Dnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth.
Political career
Early years
He began his career by being elected to the Legislative Council from the Shiv Sena. He served three terms from 1972 till 1989. He became the Mayor of Mumbai during 1976 to 1977. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from a Shiv Sena ticket in 1990. Dnyaneshwar Agashe.
Chief Minister
He became the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Maharashtra when the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition came to power.
Controversy and resignation
Joshi and Bal Thackeray were explicitly named for inciting the Shivsainiks for violence against Muslims during the 1992–1993 riots in an inquiry ordered by the government of India, the Srikrishna Commission Report. However, Joshi, then a part of the BJP-Sena government called the report "anti-Hindu, pro-Muslim and biased" and refused to adopt the commission's recommendations. During his term as Chief Minister he was embroiled in a scam involving the change of reservation of a plot of land in Pune, which was being developed by his son-in-law, Girish Vyas. Just a couple of months prior to the High Court of Mumbai passing a verdict against Girish Vyas and terming the housing complex "Sundew", illegal, under severe pressure from Vijay Kumbhar an RTI activist from Pune, Joshi resigned. Later, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the High Court but set aside the order to conduct criminal investigation against the former Chief Minister.
He was promoted to the Lok Sabha when he won from Central Mumbai in the 1999 General Elections. He was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2004 during the National Democratic Alliance administration. He was elected for a six-year term to the Rajya Sabha on 20 March 2006 after being defeated in the previous Lok Sabha election from the Central Mumbai constituency.
