Ajay Bhatt is an Indian politician who serves as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Tourism in the second ministry of the Modi government. He is also a Lok Sabha member from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar.
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Wiki/Biography
Ajay Bhatt was born on Monday, 1 May 1961 (age 60 years; as in 2021) in Ranikhet, Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand). Their zodiac sign is Taurus. He lost his father at an early age and due to this he had to face a lot of struggles while growing up. Since childhood, he was associated with the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He holds a BA LLB degree from Almora, a constituent college of Kumaon University (1984). During his college days, he was a part of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the RSS.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 9″
Eye colour: black
Hair Color: Black
family and caste
He belongs to a Brahmin family from the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand.
parents and siblings
His father’s name is Kamalapati Bhatt and mother’s name is Tulsi Devi Bhatt.
wife and children
He was married to Pushpa Bhatt, former judge and advocate general of Uttarakhand High Court, Nainital, on 28 February 1986. He has three daughters and one son.
other relatives
His nephew Leeladhar Bhatt is also a politician and member of the Indian National Congress. His other nephew, Tarun Bhatt, is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
livelihood
After graduation, he pursued a career as a lawyer. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has been in active politics since 1980. In 1985, he became the district chief of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and BJP Executive Council in Uttarakhand. Soon he was made the state president of Uttarakhand BJP. Considered one of the senior leaders of the BJP in Uttarakhand, he has held the charge of several ministries in the Government of Uttarakhand. In the 1996 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, he contested from Ranikhet constituency and won against Ranjit Singh of the Indian National Congress (INC) by a margin of 30,241. From 1996 to 2000, he was a member of the Public Accounts Committee and CPA in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Along with this, he also chaired the Privileges Committee in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. From 2001 to 2002, he served as a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Uttarakhand, holding the portfolios of Parliamentary Affairs, Health and Disaster. As Health Minister, he banned the private practice of government doctors. As a state MLA from Uttar Pradesh, he visited Canada, Australia, England, Thailand and the United States. In the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly election, 2002, which was the first legislative assembly election in the state, Ajay Bhatt was re-elected from Ranikhet by a margin of 10,199 votes against Congress leader Puran Singh. He then contested the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly election from Ranikhet in 2007 and lost to Congress leader Karan Mehra. From 2009 to 2011, he was the Chairman of the National Rural Health Mission in the Government of Uttarakhand. In the 2012 Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly election, Ajay Bhatt contested against Karan Mehra from Ranikhet constituency and won by a margin of 14,089 votes. His slogan for his election campaign was,
Everyone has the same tune…Ajay Bhatt…Ajay Bhatt.”
He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the 3rd Uttarakhand Assembly (2012 to 2017). While being the leader of the opposition, he was again appointed President of BJP Uttarakhand in 2015.
Senior leaders of Uttarakhand BJP presenting a bouquet to Ajay Bhatt on his appointment as BJP Uttarakhand President.
In the 2019 Indian general election in Uttarakhand, she contested from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar against Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat and won by a margin of 3,39,096 votes.
Ajay Bhatt during his election rally in Nainital for the 2019 Indian general election.
He assumed office as a Lok Sabha member on 23 May 2019. From September 2019 to July 2021, he was a member of the Standing Committee on Defense and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the Parliament of India. He was a member of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation in October 2019, the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 in December 2019 and the Estimates Committee in the Parliament of India in May 2020. During the cabinet reshuffle in 2021, he was appointed as the Minister of State for Tourism and Minister of State for Defence.
Ajay Bhatt sitting in his office as Minister of State for Defence.
On 22 July 2021, Ajay Bhatt introduced the Essential Defense Services Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha. The Bill allows the Central Government to prohibit strikes, lockouts and retrenchments in units engaged in essential defense services. On 3 August 2021, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, and on 5 August 2021, the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha, amid protests and sloganeering by the opposition over the Pegasus snooping controversy and farm laws and price rise issues.
A shot from Lok Sabha TV shows Ajay Bhatt introducing the Essential Defense Services Bill, 2021
controversies
- In June 2020, Ajay Bhatt had given a statement saying that the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board should be dissolved. Following his statement the opposition leader criticized him for deceiving the public as decisions regarding the board should be taken either in the High Court or the Legislative Assembly.
- In July 2019, Ajay Bhatt claimed that women could avoid cesarean delivery if they drank water from Garur Ganga, a river in Bageshwar, Uttarakhand. He even claimed that rubbing a stone from the river could cure snake bites or other poisonous animal bites and save lives. In his speech during the Lok Sabha session he said,
Someone from Kakdighat, where Swami Vivekananda meditated, told me that he was afraid to enter his house because a snake had become trapped in a rat trap. The family was afraid of snake bite. I told him that a saint in his village had a stone from the banks of the Garur Ganga river and he should bring it to his home. Within minutes, the snake which had been trapped in their house for more than a week, crawled out.
He added,
Grind the stone of Garur Ganga and mix it in water and give it to the patient. There will be no need for cesarean delivery.”
His statement was criticized by many doctors and opposition leaders, who said that if such things were possible then there would be no need for doctors in the country. After facing criticism over his statements, Bhatt in the Lok Sabha demanded a scientific study to verify his claims.
- In August 2016, then BJP Uttarakhand president Ajay Bhatt, while commenting on Congress, had said that priests in the Himalayas cannot chant mantras without taking beverages. In response to his remarks, then Congress Uttarakhand chief Kishore Upadhyay issued a media release, accusing Bhatt of hurting people’s sentiments. Upadhyay wrote,
Since ancient times, people of this region have been sharing the bond of brotherhood without any discrimination, but such comments not only hurt a particular caste but also create differences among the people. We did not fight for a separate state for this reason. Bhatt does not deserve to continue in the prime post after this controversial statement, which reflects his mentality.
Mathura Dutt, another senior Congress leader from the state, criticized Bhatt, saying,
It is not about vote banks, our election campaign will be on the work done by our party. BJP has an image of creating differences among people for political gains, which has been proved once again by Bhatt’s statement.
Address
Permanent: 784, Gandhi Chowk Sadar Bazar, Ranikhet, Almora-263645, (Uttarakhand)
Present: 301, Kaveri Apartment, Dr BD Marg, New Delhi-110001
Signature
Ajay Bhatt’s signature
Salary
According to his 2019 Lok Sabha election affidavit, his salary for the financial year 2017-18 was Rs. 5.53 lakh (approx.).
Assets and Net Worth
Ajay Bhatt’s movable assets (as of 2019) are around Rs. 1.56 crores. His immovable assets (as of 2019), including agricultural and non-agricultural land, are worth approximately Rs. 40.44 lakh. His net worth (as of 2019) is Rs. 1.97 crore (approx.).
Facts/General Knowledge
- He is interested in reading, writing and participating in debates. He likes to read literature, newspapers, history books and spiritual books like Ramayana and Vedas.
- Ajay is a member of Civil Defense Council, National Rural Development Council and Uttaranchal Harijan Shilpa Kala Utthan. He is also the Chairman of Co-operative Drug Factory Ranikhet.
- He is a part of the Ranikhet Club in Ranikhet and the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi.
- Whenever there was a change in the post of Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Ajay’s name was on the top of the list of CM candidates. First, when Tirath Singh Rawat replaced Trivendra Singh Rawat, and later, when Pushkar Singh Dhami replaced Tirath.
- Ajay Bhatt got inspiration to enter politics from senior BJP leader and former Lok Sabha member Murli Manohar Joshi.
- He showed active participation in the state struggle of Uttarakhand and the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. He was a member of Uttaranchal Joint Struggle Committee. He was arrested once during the struggle for Uttarakhand statehood and twice during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
- In November 2019, he adopted a village named Jangaliya village near Bhimtal, Uttarakhand under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. This scheme was launched for Members of Parliament to choose a village from their constituencies and convert them into a model village. Almost a year later, a media report came out, stating that Jangaliya village was still struggling with the lack of basic needs like roads, health, education and drinking water.
- In December 2020, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.
- As per his election affidavit for 2019 Lok Sabha election, he has a Swift Dezire.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn