Bhairon Singh Shekhawat :- The Shekhawat history in post independence era is incomplete without the mentions of “Babosa” Late. Shri Bhairon Singh Ji Shekhawat. To be more precise, Rajasthan as state is proud of this son of soil, who reached to the post of Vice President of India after three successful tenures as CM of Rajasthan. In between he held many political and apolitical posts in various schemes of Government of India. Below is a minor attempt to summarize the life journey of Late Sh. Bhairon Singh Ji Shekhawat fondly remembered as “Babosa”.
Birth & Education :
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was born in the village of Khachariawas (District – Sikar) in a Ladkhani Shekhawat Rajput family on 23rd October 1923. His father Late. Shri Devi Singh Shekhawat was a farmer & agriculturalist , mother Smt. Banne Kanwar was a religious housewife. Bhairon Singh Ji completed his education till High School. Thereafter he opted for the police services and served as a Sub-Inspector in then Sikar state.
Marriage & Children :
Bhairon Singh Ji was married to Smt. Suraj Kanwar and having a daughter Smt. Ratan Kanwar as the only child. Ratan Kanwar is married to Shri Narpat Singh Rajvi (BJP leader of Rajasthan). Vikramaditya Singh , Abhimanyu Singh and Mumal Rajvi are the grand children of Late Sh. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Vikramaditya Singh Rajvi is adopted as his legal heir.
Ideology :
“Antyodya Yojna” was the brain child of Late Sh. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the literal meaning of Antyodya is “Uplift the poorest”. This idea of his received many accolades around the globe and adopted in many developing countries. He was a great heritage lover and float many schemes to restore the historical artifacts and sculptures of erstwhile Rajputana. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was great admirer of arts and education, under his leadership Rajasthan developed itself as an education hub. Today Kota, Jaipur, Jodhpur & Pilani are landmark for higher education under various streams.
Political Career:
Bhairon Singh Ji left his job of Police Sub-Inspector and joined the Jansangh in year 1952, this is considered as seeding of non congress politics in Rajasthan. Bhairon Singh Ji contributed a lot in growth of the Sangh ideology in Rajasthan . In the same year (1952) he won as MLA for the state assembly and retained the post till 1972. From 1974-76 he was a Rajya Sabha Member from Madhya Pradesh. Then in year 1977 only under his leadership Jansangh won 151 out of 200 assembly seats of Rajasthan. It was his first tenure as Chief Minister of Rajasthan. He again retained the MLA seat from various constituencies of Rajasthan for 1977-2002 and lead the state as Chief Minister during March 1990 – December 1992 (Second Term) and then 1993 – 1998 (Third Term). When not in power he was the leader of opposition in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. It was an era, when people of Rajasthan often says “Rajasthan ka ek hi Singh, Bhairon Singh , Bhairon Singh”.
Positions –
- 1952–72 Member, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
- 1974–77 Member, Rajya Sabha
- 1977–2002 Member, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
- 22 June 1977–16 February 1980 Chief Minister of Rajasthan (First Term)
- 1980–90 Leader of the Opposition, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
- 4 March 1990–15 December 1992 Chief Minister of Rajasthan (Second Term)
- 4 December 1993–29 November 1998 Chief Minister of Rajasthan (Third Term)
- December 1998–August 2002 Leader of the Opposition, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
- 19 August 2002–21 July 2007 Vice-President of India.
Vice President of India :
In year 2002 , he was nominated as vice presidential candidate by then NDA govt. against Congress candidate Sushil Kumar Shinde. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat won the contest by a landsliding margin and headed the office of Vice President of India from 2002 – 2007. It was the first time in Indian Democracy when leaders across party lines openly supported his candidature and voted for him. His way of carefully handling the issues with witty humor in Rajya Sabha was appreciated worldwide.
In 2007 he contested as an independent for the post of President against Smt. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil supported by UPA , which he subsequently lost to another Shekhawat (Smt. Pratibha Patil is married to Shri Devi Singh Ram Singh Shekhawat of village Losal).
Death:
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat left this world for his heavenly abode on 15 May 2010. A day after he was cremated with full state honors in Jaipur. The wooden pyre was lit by his elder grand son Vikramaditya Singh. The cremation was attended by thousand of people from various backgrounds, right from the Governor & CM of Rajasthan, Shri Lal Krishna Advani, BJP national leaders, Chief Ministers of many states , Business Families and above all the aam & khaas of Rajasthan.