Shanta Kumar

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 89)
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 (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 non-Rajput who has served as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.[1]

Early life

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

Political career

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

He was married to Santosh Shailja in year 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

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

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

  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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