Om Prakash Dhankar also known as O. P. Dhankar (born 1 August 1961), is an Indian politician and social activist, belonging to the

Bhartiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...

(BJP) and formerly is the President of Bhartiya Janata Party, Haryana. He was a

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

Minister in the BJP run

Government of Haryana Government of Haryana, also known as the State Government of Haryana, or locally as the Haryana Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Haryana and its 22 districts. It consists of an executive, ceremonially led ...

till 2019. He is the national coordinator for the

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

’s dream project- ''

Statue of Unity The ''Statue of Unity'' is the world's List of tallest statues, tallest statue, with a height of , located in Narmada River, Narmada valley, near Kevadia in the state of Gujarat, India. It depicts Indian politician and Indian independence mov ...

'' Iron Collection Corporation Committee. O P Dhankar has been elected twice as BJP Kisan Morcha President (2011-2013), (2013-2015).

Early life and background

O.P. Dhankhar was born in Village Dhakla, Jhajjar district in 1961 in the family of Vaid Mohabbat Singh and Smt Chhoto Devi. His grandfather Shri Raghuvir Singh worked as a Station Master for

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. The Philanthropic credentials of his family date back to his great grandfather who mobilized efforts to build the first school in his native village. Dhankhar received his elementary education from the village school before earning his Masters & M. Ed. from the

Maharishi Dayanand University Maharshi Dayanand University (also called M.D. University or simply MDU; formerly University of Rohtak) is an Indian public university in Rohtak, Haryana. Established in 1976, the university is named after the noted Indian social reformer Dayan ...

Rohtak Rohtak () is a city and the administrative headquarters of the Rohtak district in the Indian state of Haryana. It lies north-west of New Delhi and south of the state capital Chandigarh on NH 9 (old NH 10). Rohtak forms a part of the Nationa ...

. After his education, he served as a Geography Lecturer at

Bhiwani Bhiwani is a city and a municipal council in Bhiwani district in the state of Haryana. Besides being a seat of spiritual learning, the city is at the centre of regional politics and hometown of three former Haryana chief ministers: Bansi Lal ...

for 11 years. As an academic, he published a book on analysis of education sector, with views on education reforms and issues concerning student lives.

Social work

He has been associated with

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

(RSS) since 1978 as a

Swayamsevak The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family"), whic ...

. In his words, he was driven by a mission and zeal to work for social causes and issues affecting youth and thus he worked for

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is a student organization in India, registered as a Non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1949. It's a significant student union with over 5 million members, making it one of the largest student or ...

(ABVP) from 1980 to 1996. He was part of various socio political movements and worked for youth affairs concerning systemic change in education sector. Later, he joined

Swadeshi Jagaran Manch The Swadeshi Jagran Manch () is a political and cultural pan-India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List ...

movement. To establish his credentials as a keen observer of life and dynamics of a civilized society, Mr. Dhankar delivered a rendition on Emotions Management. Given the skewed

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

in Haryana and increasing instance of illegal trafficking of Bihari brides by Haryanavi males, O.P. Dhankhar advised a social solution and measured approach to resolve issues by developing bonds between Haryanvi and Bihari families through government intervention. This solution also courted controversy and there were opposing voices from Bihar leaders such as

Lalu Yadav Lalu Prasad (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Bihar, chief minister of Bihar from 1990 to 1997 with a brief interruption in 1995 and as the Railway Minister (India), union minister for Railways fro ...

and

Sharad Yadav Sharad Yadav (1 July 1947 – 12 January 2023) was an Indian politician from the Loktantrik Janata Dal(LJD) party. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times and to the Rajya Sabha four times from JD(U). He was the first national president of ...

. However, Sushil Modi supported O.P. Dhankhar on this issue.

Political career

His political association spans over 30 years. He has held key positions such as State General Secretary, State President, National Secretary, and National President in various BJP and its affiliate organizations. After eighteen years of association with RSS, in 1996 he joined BJP and performed duties as a national secretary during

Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

era. He was Pradesh Prabhari for

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

and greatly contributed to BJP government formation in the hilly state. he was also actively involved in publication of BJP Haryana official magazine
Bhajpa Ki Baat
' in 2002. He has held various

padayatra A padayatra () is a journey undertaken by politicians or prominent citizens to interact more closely with different parts of society, educate about issues concerning them, and galvanize his or her supporters. ''Padayatras'' or foot pilgrimages ar ...

s and cycle yatras to agitate and protest against meager compensation and arbitrary land acquisition for

Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

. BJP Kisan Morcha has been demanding for implementation of recommendation of MS Swaminathan Commission, whereby 50% profit on input cost should be given to farmers. BJP had even promised in its election manifesto to implement Swaminathan Commission recommendation.

National President of BJP’s Kisan Morcha

Om Prakash Dhankhar got elected as National President of BJP’s Kisan Morcha twice in a row. As national president of BJP’s Kisan Morcha, OP Dhankhar worked & raised a range of issues namely Land Acquisition, Pesticide Management, Farmer’s Suicide, Farming Reforms. Swaminathan Report Implementation etc. O.P. Dhankhar played a key role in bringing about a Land Acquisition Handbook which addresses issues of farmers and industry alike by allowing enough opportunity for industrial growth.

National Coordinator of Sardar Patel ''
Statue of Unity The ''Statue of Unity'' is the world's List of tallest statues, tallest statue, with a height of , located in Narmada River, Narmada valley, near Kevadia in the state of Gujarat, India. It depicts Indian politician and Indian independence mov ...
'', Iron Collection Corporation Committee

O.P. Dhankhar is National Coordinator, ''

'', Iron Collection Corporation Committee. ''Statue of Unity'', Mr Narendra Modi’s dream project is touted to be the largest statue and an architectural marvel in the world. Iron and soil for the 182 metres tall statue of Sardar Patel, which will come up near the

Sardar Sarovar Dam The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada River near the town of Kevadiya, in Narmada District, in the Indian state of Gujarat. The dam was constructed to provide water and electricity to the Indian states of Guj ...

on the

Narmada River The Narmada River, previously also known as ''Narbada'' or anglicised as ''Nerbudda'', is the 5th longest river in India and overall the longest west-flowing river in the country. It is also the largest flowing river in the state of Madhya Prade ...

, is being collected from farmers from across the country, thus making iron collection drive for the ''Statue Of Unity'' a nationwide socio cultural movement. Shri Narendra Modi assigned Mr Dhankhar a key role as the National Co-ordinator, Statue Of Unity, Iron Collection Corporation Committee.

2014 Rohtak Lok Sabha Election: Lost

In 2014, he contested from Rohtak Parliamentary constituency against the son of Chief Minister, Haryana,

Deepender Singh Hooda Deepender Singh Hooda (born 4 January 1978) is an Indian politician. He is a five-term Member of Parliament from the Indian National Congress. He was elected as the Member of the Lok Sabha from Rohtak in 2024. He was also a Member of Parliamen ...

. O.P. Dhankhar finished second with 319436 votes (31%) and the

Indian National Lok Dal The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is a political party based primarily in the Indian state of Haryana. It was initially founded as the Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) by Devi Lal in 1996, who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India. The ...

candidate finished a poor third. During Jhajjar Lok Sabha rally in April, Shri Narendra Modi has reportedly called O.P. Dhankhar as his close confidant and dedicated political leader who has effortlessly worked for last 30 years.

2014 Haryana Vidhan Sabha Election: Won

He successfully contested as BJP’s candidate from badli constituency (by garnering 36.48% of total polled votes) in the

2014 Haryana Legislative Assembly election A general election was held on 15 October 2014 to elect 90 members of the Haryana Legislative Assembly. The term of previous assembly elected in 2009 was to expire on 27 October 2014. The results were announced on 19 October. The BJP won the ...

. Shri Om Prakash Dhankhar was a front runner claimant for the leadership position in the eventuality of BJP forming a government in Haryana in 2014 Assembly Elections. He led one of the legs of the four Vijay Sankalp Yatras organized by BJP for 2014 Haryana Assembly Elections.

2014: Cabinet Minister of Haryana

The

Minister Om Prakash Dhankar has independent charge of the following 5 departments, which makes him 4th most influential in

after

Chief Minister of Haryana The chief minister of Haryana is the chief executive of the Indian state of Haryana. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following ele ...

Manohar Lal Khattar Manohar Lal Khattar (born 5 May 1954) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the Minister of Power and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs in the central Modi government since June 2024. A prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata P ...

who holds 18 departments,

Minister Captain Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu who holds 13 departments and

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

Ram Bilas Sharma who holds 9 departments. * Department of Agriculture, Haryanabr>Official website
* Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Haryana
Official website
* Department of Fisheries, Haryanabr>Official website
* Department of Development & Panchayats, Haryana
Official website
* Department of Irrigation, Haryanabr>Official website

References

External links

O P Dhankhar's official website

BJP Kisan Morach, official website

BJP Haryana, official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhankar, O. P. 1961 births Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Haryana People from Jhajjar district National Democratic Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members Asian agrarianists Haryana MLAs 2014–2019 State cabinet ministers of Haryana State presidents of Bharatiya Janata Party Agriculture ministers of Haryana