Shanta Kumar | |
---|---|
![]() Kumar in 2006 | |
3rd Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh | |
In office 22 June 1977 –14 February 1980 | |
Preceded by | President's Rule |
Succeeded by | Thakur Ram Lal |
In office 5 March 1990 –15 December 1992 | |
Preceded by | Virbhadra Singh |
Succeeded by | Virbhadra Singh |
Member of Parliament for Kangra | |
In office 16 May 2014 –23 May 2019 | |
Preceded by | Rajan Sushant |
Succeeded by | Kishan Kapoor |
Minister of Consumer Affairs,Food and Public Distribution | |
In office 13 October 1999 –30 June 2002 | |
Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
Succeeded by | Sharad Yadav |
Constituency | Kangra |
Minister of Rural Development | |
In office 1 July 2002 –6 April 2003 | |
Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
Preceded by | Venkaiah Naidu |
Succeeded by | Kashiram Rana |
Personal details | |
Born | Kangra,Punjab,British India (now in Himachal Pradesh,India) | 12 September 1934
Political party | Bharatiya Jana Sangh(till 1977) Janata Party(1977-1980) Bharatiya Janata Party(1980-Present) |
Spouse | Santosh Shailja |
Residence(s) | Yamini Parisar,Palampur,Distt. Kangra,Himachal Pradesh,India |
Shanta Kumar Sharma (born 12 September 1934) is an Indian politician who was the 3rd Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and a Union Minister in the Government of India. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha from Kangra constituency in 1989. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998,1999 and 2014 from the same constituency. He has written a number of books. He is the first and only person not of a Rajput background who has served as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. [1]
Shanta Kumar Sharma was born to Jagannath Sharma and Kaushalya Devi on 12 September 1934 in Garhjamula,Kangra district,Punjab Province. [2]
His political career began in 1963 when he was elected as a Panch in the Gram panchayat for Garhjamula. He was subsequently elected as a member of the Panchayat Samiti in Bhawarna and then was president of Zilla Parishad in Kangra from 1965 to 1970. [3]
He was elected to the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1972. He remained a member till 1985. He was re-elected to the House again in 1990 and continued till 1992. He became the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh in 1977. [4] He held the post till 1980 and came back to head the Government again in 1990 and stayed till 1992. [5] He had enforced "No Work,No Pay" policy during his second term as Chief Minister for strongly dealing with the striking government employees. [4] He was the Leader of Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1985. [6]
He was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha in 1989 from Kangra. He was re-elected twice in 1998 and 1999. He was a senior minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1999 to 2004. [4] He was Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution from 1999 to 2002 and Union Minister of Rural Development from 2002 to 2004. [4] [6]
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Himachal Pradesh in 2008. [7] In 2014,he was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from Kangra. [8] In 2014-15 he chaired a committee on the restructuring of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). [9]
He was married to Santosh Shailja in 1964. [10] [11] He has three daughters Indu Sharma,Renu Mujumdar,Shalini Sathyan and a son Vikram Sharma. [12] His wife died in December 2020 due to coronavirus at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College,Tanda. [11] She worked as teacher in initial years but later quit her job and switched over to writing and social work among women and underprivileged sections and also wrote some books. [10]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BJP | Shanta Kumar | 4,56,163 | 57.05 | +8.37 | |
INC | Chander Kumar | 2,86,091 | 35.79 | −9.76 | |
AAP | Dr. Rajan Sushant | 24,430 | 3.06 | +3.06 | |
NOTA | None of the Above | 8,704 | 1.09 | +1.09 | |
Majority | 1,70,072 | 21.27 | +18.13 | ||
Turnout | 7,99,445 | 64.46 | +9.31 | ||
BJP hold | Swing | +8.37 |
Kumar's books include: [13]
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link)