Vasundhara Raje Scindia (born 8 March 1953) is an Indian politician, who has held two terms as the

chief minister of Rajasthan The chief minister of Rajasthan is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Rajasthan. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto' ...

. She was previously a minister in the Union Cabinet of

Atal Bihari 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 ...

and was India's first Minister of Small Scale Industries and Agro and Rural Industries, now known as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. In 2003, she became the first woman to serve as the Chief Minister for the state of Rajasthan. She is currently one of the national vice presidents of the

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

(BJP). A member of the

Scindia family House of Scindia or earlier known as the Sendrak was a Hindu Maratha Royal House that ruled the erstwhile Gwalior State in central India. Ranoji Scindia rose as a prominent military commander under Peshwa Bajirao I. Ranoji and his descendants, a ...

, she is also the matriarch of the Bamraulia family of

Dholpur Dholpur is a city in the Dholpur district in Rajasthan state of India. It is situated on the left bank of the Chambal river. The city is the administrative headquarters of Dholpur district. Dholpur was established by King Dhaval Dev of the ...

Early life

Vasundhara Raje singh was born on 8 March 1953 in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

(now Mumbai). She is the daughter of

Vijayaraje Scindia Vijaya Raje Scindia (born Lekha Divyeshwari Devi; 12 October 1919 – 25 January 2001), known popularly as the Rajmata Scindia, was an Indian politician and consort of the last ruling Maharaja of Gwalior, Jiwajirao Scindia, in British Raj. In ...

-Shinde and Jivajirao Scindia-Shinde,

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

, members of the prominent

Scindia House of Scindia or earlier known as the Sendrak was a Hindu Maratha Royal House that ruled the erstwhile Gwalior State in central India. Ranoji Scindia rose as a prominent military commander under Peshwa Bajirao I. Ranoji and his descendants ...

royal

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

family. Raje completed her school education at Presentation Convent School in

Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () (English: ) is a municipality and hill station in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated at an altitude of in the Palani hills of the Western Ghats. Kodaikanal was established in 1845 to serve as a r ...

, Tamil Nadu, and later graduated with economics and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

degrees from the

Sophia College for Women Sophia College (Autonomous) is an undergraduate women's college established in 1941 by Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is affiliated to the University of Mumbai. The governing body of The Society for the Higher Education of Women in In ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Personal life

She married Maharaj Rana

Hemant Singh Maharaj Rana Hemant Singh (born 5 January 1951) was the Maharaj-Rana of Dholpur from 1954 to 1971, when all royal titles and privy purses were abolished through the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India. Life Hemant Singh was born t ...

, of the royal family of

on 17 November 1972, but they separated a year later. Her son, Kunwar Dushyant Singh, was elected to the Lok Sabha from her former constituency, Jhalawar. Her siblings are

Yashodhara Raje Scindia Yashodhara Raje Scindia (born 19 June 1954) is an Indian politician who served as Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Technical Education, Skill Development and Employment of Madhya Pradesh under Shivraj Singh Chouhan. She is also the former M ...

, a former industries minister of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, the late

Madhavrao Scindia Madhavrao Jiwajirao Scindia (10 March 1945 – 30 September 2001) was an Indian politician and minister in the Government of India. He was a member of the Indian National Congress. He was viewed as a potential future prime ministerial candidat ...

, the late Padmavati Raje "Akkasaheb" Burman (1942–64), who married Kirit Deb Burman, the last ruling Maharaja of

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

, and Usha Raje Rana (b. 1943) who married into the Rana family of Nepal.

Children

She has one son

Dushyant Singh Dushyant Singh (born 11 September 1973; ) is an Indian politician and businessman. Singh is serving as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha for the fifth time. The son of Vasundhara Raje House of Scindia, Sc ...

, who is 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

. In the same year, she was appointed vice president of the Yuva Morcha,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

BJP.Life and Career – Vasundhara Raje
/ref>

Member of legislative assembly

* 1985-90 member, 8th Rajasthan legislative assembly from Dholpur. * 2003-08 member, 12th Rajasthan legislative assembly from

Jhalrapatan Jhalrapatan is a city and municipality of India in Jhalawar district in the state of Rajasthan. Its population is approximately 37,506. A municipality was established at Jhalrapatan in 1892. History Jhalrapatan was founded in 1796 by Zalim ...

* 2008–13, 13th Rajasthan legislative assembly from

* 2013–18, member, 14th Rajasthan legislative assembly from

*2018–23, member, 15th Rajasthan legislative assembly from

*2023-28, member,16th Rajasthan legislative assembly from Jhalrapatan

Member of parliament

* 1989-91: member,

9th Lok Sabha The 9th Lok Sabha (2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991) was elected during elections in 22–26 November 1989. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. Twelve sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected ...

, from

Jhalawar Jhalawar () is a city, municipal council and headquarter in Jhalawar district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located in the southeastern part of the state. It was the capital of the former princely state of Jhalawar, and is the admi ...

. * 1991-96: member,

10th Lok Sabha The 10th Lok Sabha, (20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996) elected during 1991 Indian general election held during May–June 1991. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India, four sitting members from Rajya Sabha, ...

* 1996-98: member,

11th Lok Sabha The 11th Lok Sabha was constituted after April–May 1996 general elections. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls in 1998. Atal Bihari Vajpa ...

* 1998-99: member,

12th Lok Sabha The 12th Lok Sabha (23 March 1998 – 26 April 1999), was constituted after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that did not provide the ...

* 1999-2003: member,

13th Lok Sabha The 13th Lok Sabha (20 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–Oct ...

Positions 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- 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 Nov 2002-14 Dec 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 Prabhat Prakashan is an Indian publishing house Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the ...

Ministry of Raje Government

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raje, Vasundhara 1953 births Living people Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Scindia dynasty Chief ministers of Rajasthan Sophia College for Women alumni Women in Rajasthan politics Rajasthan MLAs 1985–1990 People from Jhalawar district Rajasthani people India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 Lok Sabha members from Rajasthan Women chief ministers of Indian states Rajasthan MLAs 2013–2018 Rajasthan MLAs 2003–2008 Rajasthan MLAs 2008–2013 Leaders of the opposition in Rajasthan Indian female royalty Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Rajasthan 20th-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians Women members of the Lok Sabha Women union ministers of state of India Rajasthan MLAs 2018–2023 Rajasthan MLAs 2023–2028 Presidents of Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajasthan Women members of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly