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Shanta Kumar

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Shanta Kumar
Kumar in 2006
3rd Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
In office
22 June 1977 – 14 February 1980
Preceded byPresident's Rule
Succeeded byThakur Ram Lal
In office
5 March 1990 – 15 December 1992
Preceded byVirbhadra Singh
Succeeded byVirbhadra Singh
Member of Parliament
for Kangra
In office
16 May 2014 – 23 May 2019
Preceded byRajan Sushant
Succeeded byKishan Kapoor
Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
In office
13 October 1999 – 30 June 2002
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Succeeded bySharad Yadav
ConstituencyKangra
Minister of Rural Development
In office
1 July 2002 – 6 April 2003
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded byVenkaiah Naidu
Succeeded byKashiram Rana
Personal details
Born (1934-09-12) 12 September 1934 (age 90)
Kangra, Punjab, British India
(now in Himachal Pradesh, India)
Political partyBharatiya Jana Sangh(till 1977)

Janata Party(1977-1980)

Bharatiya Janata Party(1980-Present)
SpouseSantosh Shailja
Residence(s)Yamini Parisar, Palampur, Distt. Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India

Shanta Kumar Sharma (born 12 September 1934) is an Indian politician who was the 3rd Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and a Union Minister in the Government of India. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha from Kangra constituency in 1989. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2014 from the same constituency. He has written a number of books. He is the first and only person not of a Rajput background who has served as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.[1]

Early life

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Shanta Kumar Sharma was born to Jagannath Sharma and Kaushalya Devi on 12 September 1934 in Garhjamula, Kangra district, Punjab Province.[2]

Political career

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His political career began in 1963 when he was elected as a Panch in the Gram panchayat for Garhjamula. He was subsequently elected as a member of the Panchayat Samiti in Bhawarna and then was president of Zilla Parishad in Kangra from 1965 to 1970.[3]

He was elected to the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1972. He remained a member till 1985. He was re-elected to the House again in 1990 and continued till 1992. He became the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh in 1977.[4] He held the post till 1980 and came back to head the Government again in 1990 and stayed till 1992.[5] He had enforced "No Work, No Pay" policy during his second term as Chief Minister for strongly dealing with the striking government employees.[4] He was the Leader of Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1985.[6]

He was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha in 1989 from Kangra. He was re-elected twice in 1998 and 1999. He was a senior minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1999 to 2004.[4] He was Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution from 1999 to 2002 and Union Minister of Rural Development from 2002 to 2004.[4][6]

He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Himachal Pradesh in 2008.[7] In 2014, he was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from Kangra.[8] In 2014-15 he chaired a committee on the restructuring of the Food Corporation of India (FCI).[9]

Personal background

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He was married to Santosh Shailja in 1964.[10][11] He has three daughters Indu Sharma, Renu Mujumdar, Shalini Sathyan and a son Vikram Sharma.[12] His wife died in December 2020 due to coronavirus at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda.[11] She worked as teacher in initial years but later quit her job and switched over to writing and social work among women and underprivileged sections and also wrote some books.[10]

Election results

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General Election, 2014: Kangra
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJP Shanta Kumar 4,56,163 57.05 8.37
INC Chander Kumar 2,86,091 35.79 −9.76
AAP Dr. Rajan Sushant 24,430 3.06 3.06
NOTA None of the Above 8,704 1.09 1.09
Majority 1,70,072 21.27 18.13
Turnout 7,99,445 64.46 9.31
BJP hold Swing 8.37

Writing

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Kumar's books include:[13]

  • Dharti Balidan Ki, 1962
  • Himalaya Par Lal Chhaya, 1964
  • Vishwa Vijeta Vivekanand, 1968
  • Lajo, 1976
  • Man Ke Meet, 1976
  • Kaidi, 1976
  • Jyotirmayi, 1977
  • O Pravasi Meet Mere, 1977
  • Mrigtrishna, 1980
  • Kranti Abhi Adhoori Hai, 1985
  • Deewar Ke Us Paar, 1995
  • Rajneeti Ki Shatranj, 1997
  • Tumhare Pyar Ki Pati, 1999
  • Vrinda, 2007
  • A Patriot monk Swami Vivekananda, 2012

References

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  1. ^ "Jai Ram Thakur's Himachal cabinet has a distinctly Rajput flavour". 27 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Biographical Sketch: Member of Parliament: 13th Lok Sabha". parliamentofindia.nic.in. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  3. ^ "National Portal of India". india.gov.in. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Bipin, Bhardwaj (24 March 2019). "After Advani, roads closed for veteran BJP leader Shanta Kumar too, party hunts for new face in Himachal". National Herald. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Shanta Kumar : Niti Central". niticentral.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  6. ^ a b "13th Lok Sabha Member Profile". Government of India. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  7. ^ Members Page
  8. ^ "Kangra(Himachal Pradesh) Lok Sabha Election Results 2014 with ..."
  9. ^ "Recommendations of High Level Committee on restructuring of FCI". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. ^ a b "Former Himachal Pradesh CM Shanta Kumar's Wife Dies of Covid". Outlook. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Former Union minister Shanta Kumar to undergo Covid treatment at Mohali hospital". Hindustan Times. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar, son admitted to Mohali hospital for Covid-19 treatment". ANI News. ANI. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Kumar Shanta". Retrieved 22 June 2016.
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