Vasundhara Raje Scindia is an Indian politician, who has held two terms as the chief minister of Rajasthan. She was previously a minister in the Union Cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and was India's first Minister of Small Scale Industries and Agro and Rural Industries. She is currently one of the national vice presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A member of the Scindia family, she is also the matriarch of the Bamraulia family of Dholpur.

Early life

Vasundhara Raje singh was born on 8 March 1953 in Bombay (now Mumbai). She is the daughter of Vijayaraje Scindia-Shinde and Jivajirao Scindia-Shinde, Maharaja of Gwalior, members of the prominent Scindia royal Maratha family.

Raje completed her school education at Presentation Convent School in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, and later graduated with economics and political science degrees from the Sophia College for Women, Mumbai.

Personal life

She married Maharaj Rana Hemant Singh, of the royal Dholpur family, on 17 November 1972, but they separated a year later. Her son, Dushyant Singh, was elected to the Lok Sabha from her former constituency, Jhalawar. Her siblings are Yashodhara Raje Scindia, a former industries minister of Madhya Pradesh, the late Madhavrao Scindia, the late Padmavati Raje "Akkasaheb" Burman (1942–64), who married Kirit Deb Burman, the last ruling Maharaja of Tripura, and Usha Raje Rana (b. 1943) who married into the Rana family of Nepal.

Children

She has one son Dushyant Singh a four-time member of Parliament through Loksabha and the Yuvraj of Dholpur.

Political career

In 1984, Raje entered the Indian political system. Initially, she was made a member of the national executive of the newly formed Bharatiya Janata Party. She was also elected as a member of the 8th Rajasthan Assembly from Dholpur. In the same year, she was appointed vice president of the Yuva Morcha, Rajasthan BJP.

Membership of legislative assembly
1985-90 member, 8th Rajasthan legislative assembly from Dholpur.
2003-08 member, 12th Rajasthan legislative assembly from Jhalrapatan
2008–13, 13th Rajasthan legislative assembly from Jhalrapatan
2013–18, member, 14th Rajasthan legislative assembly from Jhalrapatan
2018–present, member, 15th Rajasthan legislative assembly from Jhalrapatan
Membership of parliament
1989-91 : member, 9th Lok Sabha, from Jhalawar.
1991-96 : member, 10th Lok Sabha
1996-98 : member, 11th Lok Sabha
1998-99 : member, 12th Lok Sabha
1999-03 : member, 13th Lok Sabha

Position held

1985-87 : vice-president, Yuva Morcha BJP, Rajasthan
1987 : vice-president, BJP, Rajasthan
1990-91 : member, Library Committee, member, Consultative Committee, Ministries of Commerce and Tourism
1991-96 : member, Consultative Committees, Ministries of Power, Science and Technology, Environment and Tourism
1996-97 : member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, Member, Consultative Committees, Ministries of Power, Science and Technology and Tourism
1997-1998 : joint secretary, BJP Parliamentary Party
1998-99 : Union minister of state, External Affairs
13 October 1999 – 31 August 2001: Union minister of state (Independent Charge), Small Scale Industries and Agro & Rural Industries; Department of Personnel and Training; Department of Pensions and Pensioners' Welfare in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space
1 September 2001 – 1 November 2001: Union minister of state, Small Scale Industries; Personnel, Training, Pensions, Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances; Department of Atomic Energy; and Department of Space (Independent Charge) 2 November 2001-
29 January 2003 – 8 December 2003: Union minister of state, Small Scale Industries; Personnel, Training, Pensions, Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances; Planning; Department of Atomic Energy; and Department of Space (Independent Charge) 14 November 2002 -
14 December 2003 – president, BJP, Rajasthan
8 December 2003 – 8 December 2008: chief minister, Rajasthan
2 January 2009 – 8 December 2013: leader of opposition, Rajasthan legislative assembly
8 December 2013 – 11 December 2018: chief minister, Rajasthan
11 January 2019 : national vice president of Bharatiya Janata Party

Works

Vasundhara Raje, Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra
Vasundhara Raje, Bhamashah Yojana
Satyam Kumar and Vasundhara Raje, iStart Rajasthan
Vasundhara Raje, Jal Swavlamban
See More Schemes of Vasundhara Raje

Achievements

In 2007, she received the "Women Together Award" from the UNO for services rendered towards the self-empowerment of women.

In 2018, she received the 'Best Chief Minister of the Year' Award at the 52nd Skoch Summit.

Book

A book on the life of Vasundhara Raje named Vasundhara Raje aur Vikasit Rajasthan was written by the historian Vijay Nahar and published by Prabhat Prakashan.