Ashock Kumar Jugnauth, also known as Ashok Jugnauth (born आशोक कुमार जग्नोथ on 3 January 1951) is a

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably ...

politician and former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Early life and career

Jugnauth was born at Palma,

Quatre Bornes Quatre Bornes () also known as ''La Ville des Fleurs'' (The City of Flowers), is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the western part also lies in the Rivière Noire District. The town is administered by the Municipal ...

. He is the younger half-brother of Sir

Anerood Jugnauth Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, PV, (29 March 1930 – 3 June 2021) was a Mauritian politician and barrister who served both as President and Prime Minister of Mauritius. He was Member of Parliament for Piton & Riviere Du Rempart. A central fi ...

. He studied law and practised as a barrister in Mauritius.

Political career

Ashock became an active member of the

Militant Socialist Movement The Militant Socialist Movement (french: Mouvement Socialiste Militant; abbreviated MSM) is a centre-left political party in Mauritius. It is the largest single political party in the National Assembly of Mauritius, winning 42 of the 69 seats in ...

(MSM) and in 1991 he was elected for the first time to the Legislative Assembly as an MSM-MMM politician. He became Minister of Civil Service in 1993. At the 1995 National Assembly elections he was not elected. Ashock was appointed as Minister of Health by Prime Minister

Sir Anerood Jugnauth Sir Anerood Jugnauth, Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean, GCSK, Padma Vibhushan, PV, (29 March 1930 – 3 June 2021) was a Mauritian politician and barrister who served both as President of Mauritius, President and Prime Minister of ...

in 2000 following the victory of the MSM-MMM coalition at the 11 September 2000 Elections. Ashock was the Minister of Health of Mauritius from 2000 to 2005. He served in the cabinet of

from 2000 to 2003 and that of

Paul Berenger Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

from 2003 to 2005 as Anerood became

President of Mauritius The president of the Republic of Mauritius (french: président de la République de Maurice) is the head of state of the Republic of Mauritius. Mauritius is a parliamentary republic, and the president functions as a ceremonial figurehead, ele ...

. Following the July 2005 elections he became member of the Opposition (MSM-MMM coalition) after being elected at Constituency No.8 Quartier Militaire-Moka. By 2006 Ashock Jugnauth became the founder of a splinter group which left MSM to form new political party Union National (UN) after newly appointed MSM leader

Pravind Jugnauth Pravind Kumar Jugnauth (born 25 December 1961) is a Mauritian politician serving as the prime minister of Mauritius since January 2017. Jugnauth has been the leader of the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) party since April 2003. He has held a n ...

's decision to end its alliance with the MMM whilst both parties remained in Opposition. Following the 2008 Court Ruling and successful contestation by defeated rival Raj Ringadoo of Ashock's election 3 years earlier by-elections had to be held in Constituency No.8. At the 2009 by-elections Ashock Jugnauth stood under the banner of his new party Union National which had the support of Berenger's MMM. However his rival

won the seat. At the May 2010 elections he was a candidate of the Alliance MMM-UN-MMSD coalition in Constituency No.8 but was defeated by his rival and nephew Pravind Jugnauth. At the December 2014 elections Ashock Jugnauth was candidate of Labour-MMM (PTR-MMM) at Constituency No.8 but was again defeated by his nephew Pravind. Ashock Jugnauth was once again defeated at Constituency No.8 at the November 2019 elections as a candidate of the Labour-PMSD (PTr-PMSD) alliance.

Controversies

Soon after the re-election of Ashock Jugnauth at the 2005 General Elections as member of the Opposition his rival Raj Ringadoo lodged legal action in court, accusing Jugnauth of electoral bribery in the form of a promised new Muslim cemetery and by promising jobs to 101 health care assistants from his Constituency in exchange for votes in his favour. In April 2007 the Supreme Court found Ashock Jugnauth to be guilty. He appealed the verdict to the British Privy Council. But in November 2008 the Jucial Committee of the British Privy Council upheld the guilty verdict. As a result, Ashock Jugnauth lost his seat in parliament and by-election had to be held in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jugnauth, Ashok Members of the National Assembly (Mauritius) Living people Government ministers of Mauritius Militant Socialist Movement politicians Labour Party (Mauritius) politicians 1951 births