Rajasthan Blog

All you need to know about Rajasthan

Posts Tagged chief minister of Rajasthan

Ashok Gehlot – The 2nd Time Chief Minister of Rajasthan

Apr 5

Posted by mystaterajasthan in about rajasthan, famous people rajasthan | No Comments

gehlot

Personal Background

A prominent congress leader Ashok Gehlot was born on May 3, 1951 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Currently, he is the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.  His father was a farmer.

Gehlot is a Bachelor of Science. He received his M.A. degree in Economics. In 1980, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for the first time from Jodhpur.

Ashok Gehlot has vast administrative experience and has held several important posts in the Congress Party. He was appointed as the President of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee for the first time in 1985. He was again elected in 1994 and 1997 for the same post. He held the post of Union Deputy Minister for Tourism & Civil Aviation in the Cabinet headed by Indira Gandhi in 1982.

In 1989, he became a Minister in the Department of Home and PHED, Government of Rajasthan. He also held the Independent Charge of the Textile Ministry in the cabinet of P.V Narasimha Rao in 1991. Ashok Gehlot became the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in 1998.

Ashok Gehlot’s Concept of Dynasty Politics:

Ashok Gehlot’s honesty can be gauged by the fact that despite having such a long political career and holding top positions, he does not have his own house or any vehicle.  He never kept gifts, mementoes and awards etc. for his personal use and sold all of them and spent the money for the public welfare. He never fuelled the concept of dynasty politics and this is why neither his wife nor his son or anybody else from the family is in politics.

After coming to power, he had asked his party men to read Gandhi’s biography. He made his income and properties belonging to his ministers and MLAs public and even invited BJP leaders in the Assembly to join hands in enacting a law that made the declaration of assets mandatory. The political leaders were unanimous in rejecting the proposition.

His Working and Achievements:

Many Rajasthani villagers were grateful to the Chief Minister, Mr. Ashok Gehlot, for initiating food-for-work programmers, which helped them buy badly needed food grains to survive the drought they have ever seen in their lives. Ashok Gehlot crushed one of the longest strikes by state employees last year, and successfully handled the Panchayat elections.

However, several of his party leaders were eagerly waiting for bad luck to hit Gehlot when he forced the powerful IAS and IPS officers to stop misusing government vehicles and allotted just one car (instead of two) to his ministers.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Swami Keshwanand – Saint, Freedom Fighter, Social Reformer and Educator

Mar 31

Posted by mystaterajasthan in about rajasthan, famous people rajasthan, Uncategorized | No Comments

Swami KeshwanandPersonal Profile

Swami Keshwanand was such an indifferent saint who served others for social benefits while himself being unmarried  throughout  his life. He was born at village Magloona in Sikar district of present-day Rajasthan.

His actual name was Birama, and he was the son of Thakarsi, a penurious camel-driver. In 1890 when Birama was seven, his father died and  for a prolonged period, his mother had perforce to move from place to place in search of shelter and fodder for her animals. Mother and son finally settled at village Kelania in present-day Sri Ganganagar.

However, this was not the end of their misfortunes: Rajasthan was then headed for one of its periodic famines. There was no vegetation and drop of water left on the ground.  All the animals died for want of fodder. People survived on grasses and the bark of “Khejri” trees.  The ruling Savants were least bothered for the poor people. It was in these circumstances that Birama’s mother Saran died in 1899 at village Kelaniya.

Education

The famine of 1899 forced  Birama to leave the desert region and move to Punjab in search of livelihood. He went to  Mahant Kushaldas of the Udasin sect and expressed the desire to learn Sanskrit. Birama became a sannyasi in 1904 and did  his education at the Sadhu Ashram Fazilka. At the Kumbha Mela held at Prayag in 1905, Mahatma Hiranandji Avadhut conferred on Birama the new name “Swami Keshwanand”.

Established Various Schools, Colleges, Hostels and Libraries

Swami Keshwanand was an orphan, illiterate, nomadic man who never received formal education but he established more than 300 schools, 50 hostels and innumerable libraries, social service centers and museums. Swami Keshwanand’s deep understanding of the rural society of the desert region can be gleaned from his book “Maru Bhumi Seva Karya”. In this book, he has explained the peculiarities of the Desert region, identified the problems and suggested appropriate and logical solutions.

Keshwanand as freedom fighter, educator and social reformer

He got very hurt because of Jalianwalla bagh incident and after that he  started attending the meetings of the Indian National Congress, joined the Indian Independence Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, and participated in the non-cooperation movement, for which was imprisoned for two years (1921-1922).

It was swami Keshwanand’s lifelong endeavour to eradicate social evils like untouchability, illiteracy, child marriage, indebtedness, poverty, backwardness, alcohol abuse, moral dissipation etc.

Honours

Swami Keshwanand was presented the “Abhinandan Granth” by the then chief minister of Rajasthan on March 9, 1958. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha for two consequetive terms, 1952-58 and 1958-64. The department of Posts, Government of India, issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour on August 15, 1999.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,