Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (born 3 October 1967)[2] is an Indian politician from Rajasthan who is currently serving as Union Cabinet Minister in Ministry of Jal Shakti.[3] He is a member of parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) representing Jodhpur in the Lok Sabha.[4]

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Minister of Jal Shakti
Assumed office
31 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
DeputyRattan Lal Kataria
Preceded by Position Established
Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
In office
3 September 2017 – 30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
MinisterRadha Mohan Singh
Preceded byS. S. Ahluwalia
Succeeded byKailash Choudhary
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
16 May 2014
Preceded byChandresh Kumari Katoch
ConstituencyJodhpur
Personal details
Born (1967-10-03) 3 October 1967[1]
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s)
Nonand Kanwar
​
(m. 1993)​
Children3
Alma materJai Narain Vyas University
OccupationPolitician

Early life and education

He was born in Mahroli Village in Shrimadhopur tehsil of Sikar district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. His father, Shankar Singh Shekhawat, was a senior government officer in the public health department and travelled on frequent assignments across the state, so Shekhawat was educated at several different schools. He received a Master of arts and Master of Philosophy from Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur.[5]

Political career

Shekhawat began his political career in student politics when in 1992 he was elected as president of the Student Union at JNVU University, gaining more votes than any other previous Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad supporter.[5] Shekhawat was appointed as National General Secretary of the BJP Kisan Morcha, the farmers wing of the Bharatiya Janta Party.[6] He was also a member of the Rajasthan State Executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party.[1]

He was elected as a member of parliament to the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014, with the highest ever winning margin (4,10,051 votes) from the constituency of Jodhpur. One of his major achievements during his tenure as an MP has been the expansion of the Jodhpur Airport, a demand that had continuously been raised during the last 18 years.

Known for his use of social media, Shekhawat is the most followed Indian politician on Quora.[7] His Quora profile has more than 73,380 followers and his answers on the social media platform have been viewed 6.5 million times.[8] He also served as the Chairperson of the Fellowship Committee, member of the All India Council of Sports (AICS)[5] and member of the Standing Committee on Finance.

Union Minister

On 3 September 2017 he was appointed as Union Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare . He defeated Vaibhav Gehlot, the son of Ashok Gehlot, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan from Jodhpur by a margin of 2.74 lakh votes in 2019 Indian general elections.[9] Shekhawat became the Minister of Jal Shakti on 31 May 2019.[10][11] On 20 August 2020, Shekhawat tested positive for COVID-19.[12]

Social works

Before entering electoral politics, Shekhawat held many positions in many forums and organisations; he was the co-convener of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, the economic wing of the Sangh Parivar and the General Secretary of Seema Jan Kalyan Samiti, an organisation dedicated to strengthening national security by developing border towns and villages. .[13] As General Secretary, he was instrumental in building a second line of defense that consisted of civilians residing near the border area of Rajasthan. He was also instrumental in furthering the impact of civil defence by setting up 40 schools and four hostels along the Indo-Pak border.[14]

References
  1. "Members Bioprofile". loksabhaph.nic.in. Lok Sabha Secretariat. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  2. "Who is Gajendra Singh Shekhawat?". indianexpress.com. New Delhi: The Indian Express. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. Report, TOI. "Cabinet rejig: Meet Modi's formidable force in run-up to 2019 general elections".
  4. "Constituencywise-All Candidates". Eciresults.nic.in. Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  5. "Cabinet reshuffle: Dedicated party veterans, ex-bureaucrats in Modi's chosen nine - Times of India". The Times of India. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  6. Report, TOI. "BJP Kisan Morcha names office bearers, says will work for farmers". PTI. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  7. Report, TOI. "On right track". PTI. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  8. "Profile: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat". Quora. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  9. Parihar, Rohit (24 May 2019). "Election results 2019: Modi wave drowns Ashok Gehlot's son in Jodhpur". India Today. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  10. India, Press Trust of (31 May 2019), "Govt forms 'Jal Shakti' Ministry by merging Water Resources and Drinking Water Ministries", Business Standard
  11. "PM Modi allocates portfolios. Full list of new ministers", Live Mint, 31 May 2019
  12. "Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat tests positive for COVID-19". 20 August 2020 – via www.thehindu.com.
  13. "Gajendra Singh Shekhawat". www.ptinews.com/home.aspx. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  14. India, Press Trust of (3 September 2017). "Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and his contribution". Business Standard India. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
Lok Sabha
Preceded by
Chandresh Kumari Katoch		 Member of Parliament
for Jodhpur
2014 – Present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
N/A
Ministry created by merging
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
and
Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation		 Minister of Jal Shakti
30 May 2019 - Present		 Incumbent
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