Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Birth Anniversary: Shekhawat was born on 23 October 1923 in the village Khachariyawas of the princely state of Jaipur. This village is now in Sikar district of Rajasthan.
Shekhawat’s father’s name was Devi Singh Shekhawat and mother’s name was Banne Kanwar. Received alphabet-knowledge in the village school.
Today is the 98th birth anniversary of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the 11th Vice President of India, former Chief Minister of Rajasthan and senior BJP leader.
Shekhawat was born on 23 October 1923 in the village Khachariyawas of the princely state of Jaipur. This village is now in Sikar district of Rajasthan. Shekhawat’s father’s name was Devi Singh Shekhawat and mother’s name was Banne Kanwar. Received alphabet-knowledge in the village school. Received high-school education from Jobner, 30 km from the village, where one had to walk to study.
After completing high school, he was enrolled in Maharaja College, Jaipur.
When his father died, the burden of maintaining eight family members fell on his shoulders. As a result he had to take the plow in his own hands. Later he also did a police job. But he did not mind and after resigning, he started farming again.
The establishment of democracy after independence opened the doors of progress for the common citizen. When the Legislative Assembly was established in Rajasthan in 1952, Shekhawat also tried his luck and became an MLA. Then there was no looking back and climbing step by step, the Leader of the Opposition, reached the post of Chief Minister and Vice President. He served as the Vice President from 19 August 2002 to 21 July 2007. While he was also the Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 1977 to 1980, 1990 to 1992 and 1993 to 1998. He died on 15 May 2010.
Whenever there is talk of the history of Rajasthan’s politics and there is no mention of ‘Babosa’, it can never happen. Yes, late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the former Vice President who has made his own entry in the name of ‘Babosa’ or ‘Thacker Sahib’, is included in the list of veteran leaders whose role can hardly be ignored in his journey from Jan Sangh to BJP.
Along with Babosa’s thinking rising above party politics, his simple and gentle personality not only earned the credibility of the party leaders but also attracted the leaders of the opposition parties.
‘Babosa’ in politics:
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat entered politics in 1952. From 1952 to 1972, he was a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. In the 1967 elections, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and its ally Swatantra Party came close to a majority but could not form the government. He served as a Rajya Sabha member from 1974 to 1977. From 1977 to 2002 he was a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. In 1977, his party won the elections by winning 151 out of 200 seats and became the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. He served till 1980. After the dissolution of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party in 1980, he joined BJP and served as Leader of Opposition till 1990.
In 1984, the BJP lost the elections under Indira Gandhi. After this, in the 1989 elections, the BJP-Janata Dal alliance won 25 seats in the Lok Sabha and 140 seats in the Rajasthan Assembly elections. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat again became the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in 1990 and remained in office till 1992. Under his leadership BJP won 99 seats in the next election. Thus with the support of independent supporters he was able to form the government but the Congress was against it. In 1993, he became the Chief Minister of Rajasthan for the third time in a row and remained for five years. In 1998, he lost the election due to issues like rising onion prices. After this, in 1999, BIP won the Lok Sabha elections. This time BJP won 16 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan.
In the year 2002, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was elected the Vice President of the country defeating Sushil Kumar Shinde. The opposition party got 149 out of 750 votes. In July 2007, she contested the presidential election as an independent with the support of the National Democratic Alliance, but unfortunately she lost the election and Pratibha Patil won the election and became the President of the country. After this, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat resigned from the post of Vice President on 21 July 2007.
