Vasundhara Raje Age
BJP leader Vasundhara Raje was born on 8 March 1953 in Mumbai.
Vasundhara Raje Family
Raje was born into the wealthy Scindia (Sindhia) royal family, former rulers of Gwalior (now in Madhya Pradesh state). Her father, Jivajirao Scindia, died when she was young.
She derived much inspiration from her mother, Vijayaraje (or Vijaya Raje) Scindia, who was a senior leader in both the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS; Indian People’s Association) and the BJP, the successor of the BJS.
Raje’s older brother, Madhavrao Scindia, was also a prominent politician—though of the rival Indian National Congress (Congress Party)—before his death in 2001.
Raje completed a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Sophia College for Women (affiliated with the University of Mumbai) in Mumbai.
Her siblings are Yashodhara Raje Scindia, former Industries Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the late Padmavati Raje ‘Akkasaheb’ Burman (1942–64), who wed Kirit Deb Burman, last ruling Maharaja of Tripura, and Usha Raje Rana (b. 1943) who married into the Rana family of Nepal.
Vasundhara Raje History
She completed her school education from Presentation Convent, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, and later graduated with Economics and Political Science degrees (Hons.) from Sophia College, affiliated to Mumbai University, Mumbai.
Vasundhara Raje Husband
She married Maharaj Rana Hemant Singh, of the royal Jat Dholpur family, on 17 November 1972, but the couple separated a year later.
Vasundhara Raje Photo
Vasundhara Raje Son
People elected her son Dushyant Singh to the Lok Sabha from her former constituency, Jhalawar.
Vasundhara Raje Biography
In 1984, Raje entered the Indian political system. Initially, BJP leadership made him a Member of the National Executive of the newly formed Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).
People elected her as a member of the 8th Rajasthan Assembly from Dholpur. The same year, she was appointed as the Vice President of the Yuva Morcha, Rajasthan BJP.
Later she served in 1997–98 as joint secretary of the BJP membership in parliament and in 2002–03 as president of the party’s Rajasthan unit.
In 1989, however, she shifted her focus to national politics. People elected him to the Lok Sabha (lower chamber of the Indian parliament) in 1989.
People re-elected her to that body four more times, ending her tenure there in 2003.
Later Raje received several appointments during the period (1998–2004) that the BJP controlled the national government, including minister of state for external affairs (1998–99) and for the Department of Atomic Energy (1999–2003).
Vasundhara Raje CM
Later in 2003 Raje returned to Rajasthan state politics and led the BJP to a strong electoral victory (120 out of 200 seats) in the legislative assembly.
The party formed a government, with Raje appointed chief minister, the first woman to occupy that position in Rajasthan.
In her term in office (2003–08) she put strong focus on improving the state’s infrastructure and various social initiatives.
Raje retained her seat in the assembly, and for most of the succeeding five years. She was the leader of the opposition there—the only significant break being in 2010–11, when she served as the BJP’s general secretary.
BJP leadership chose her to lead the BJP campaign when it contested for the December 2013 state assembly polls. The party won by a landslide, capturing 163 seats, and Raje began her second term as chief minister.
Vasundhara Raje Caste
She was born into Maratha family but married into Royal Jat Family.