Ajay Bhatt is an Indian politician who serves as the Minister of State for Defense and Tourism in Modi’s second government. He is also the Lok Sabha member from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar.
Wiki/Biography
Ajay Bhatt was born on Monday, May 1, 1961 (60 years old in 2021) in Ranikhet, Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand). His star sign is Taurus. He lost his father at a very young age, and due to this, he had to face many difficulties while growing up. From a young age, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organization. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (1984) from Kumaon University, Almora. During his college years, he was a member of the All India Students’ Union, the student organization of the RSS.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 9″
Eye color: black
Hair color: black
family and caste
He comes from a Brahmin family in the Kumaang district of Uttarakhand.
parents and siblings
His father’s name is Kamalapati Bhatt and mother’s name is Tulsi Devi Bhatt.
Wife and children
On February 28, 1986, he married Pushpa Bhatt, former judge of the Uttarakhand High Court and Attorney General at Nainital. He has three daughters and one son.
other relatives
His nephew Leeladhar Bhatt is also a politician and a member of the Indian National Congress. His other nephew Tarun Bhatt is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Profession
After graduation, he worked as a lawyer. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has been active in politics since 1980. In 1985, he became the district president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJYM) and the Uttarakhand BJYM executive committee. He was soon appointed as the state president of Uttarakhand of the BJP. He is considered one of the senior leaders of the BJP in Uttarakhand and has held various positions in various ministries and departments of the Uttarakhand government. In 1996, he ran for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election in the Ranikhet constituency and defeated Ranjit Singh of the Indian National Congress by a margin of 30,241 votes. From 1996 to 2000, he served as a member of the Public Accounts Committee of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and as a Chartered Accountant. He also serves as Chairman of the Privileges Committee of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. From 2001 to 2002, he served as Cabinet Minister in the Government of Uttarakhand, responsible for the ministries of Parliamentary Affairs, Health and Disaster Relief. As health minister, he banned government doctors from practicing privately. As a state legislator from Uttar Pradesh, he traveled to Canada, Australia, UK, Thailand and the US. In the 2002 Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly elections, the first Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) election in the state, Ajay Bhatt defeated Congress leader Phoolan N Pooran Singh, was re-elected from Ranikhet district. He subsequently contested the 2007 Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly elections from Ranikhet but lost to Congress leader Karan Mahara. From 2009 to 2011, he served as Chairman, National Rural Health Mission, Government of Uttarakhand. In the 2012 Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly elections, Ajay Bhatt contested from Ranikhet constituency against Karan Mahara and won by a margin of 14,089 votes. His campaign slogan is:
Thank you..Ajay Bhatt..Ajay Bhatt”
In the third Uttarakhand Assembly (2012-2017), he served as the Leader of Opposition. While serving as leader of the opposition, he was again appointed as Uttarakhand BJP president in 2015.
Senior Uttarakhand BJP leaders pay flowers to Ajay Bhatt after he was appointed as Uttarakhand BJP president
In the 2019 Indian Uttarakhand general election, he campaigned against Indian National Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat in Nainital-Udhamsing Nagar, with 3, Won by a margin of 39,096 votes.
Ajay Bhatt attends a campaign rally for the 2019 Indian general election in Nainital
He took office as a member of the Lok Sabha on May 23, 2019. From September 2019 to July 2021, he served as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense and the Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. He served as a member of the Subsidiary Legislative Committee of the Parliament of India in October 2019, as a member of the Joint Committee on Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 in December 2019 and as a member of the Evaluation Committee in May 2020. During the 2021 cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Minister of State for Tourism and Minister of Defense.
Ajay Bhatt sitting in office as defence minister
On July 22, 2021, Ajay Bhatt introduced the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha. The bill allows the central government to prohibit strikes, lockouts and layoffs in units engaged in essential defence services. On August 3, 2021, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and on August 5, 2021, it was passed in the Rajya Sabha amid protests and slogans by the opposition over the Pegasus Snooping controversy, the farm laws and rising prices.
Footage from Lok Sabha TV shows Ajay Bhatt introducing the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021
dispute
- In June 2020, Ajay Bhatt issued a statement stating that the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Committee should be dissolved. Following his statement, opposition leaders criticized him for deceiving the public because decisions about the commission should be made by the High Court or the Legislative Council.
- In July 2019, Ajay Bhatt claimed that women could avoid caesarean sections if they drank water from the Garur Ganga river in Bageshwar, Uttarakhand. He even claimed that rubbing snake bites or other poisonous animal bites with stones from the river could heal and save lives. He said while addressing the Lok Sabha session,
A man in Kakdighat, where Swami Vivekananda meditated, told me that he was afraid to enter his house because there was a snake stuck in the mousetrap. The whole family is afraid of being bitten by a snake. I told them that a saint in their village had a stone from the banks of the Ganga in Garlur and they should take it to their house. Within minutes, the snake, which had been trapped in their house for more than a week, crawled out. “
He added,
Rub the Ganga stone of Garur and mix it with water and let the patient drink it. No caesarean section is needed.”
His comments were criticised by several doctors and opposition leaders who pointed out that if such a thing could really happen, then India would not need doctors. Following the backlash, Bhatt called for a scientific study in the Lok Sabha to verify his claims.
- In August 2016, Ajay Bhatt, then BJP Uttarakhand president, made a statement about the Congress party, saying that priests in the Himalayas cannot chant mantras without drinking alcohol. Reacting to his statement, Kishore Upadhyaya, then Congress Uttarakhand president, issued a press release accusing Bhatt of hurting the sentiments of the people. Upadhyaya wrote:
Since ancient times, the people of the region have been united in heart and soul without any discrimination, but such remarks not only hurt a particular caste but also create divisions among people. This is not what we are fighting for to build an independent nation. Bhatt is unworthy of continuing to hold a key position after making this controversial statement, which reflects his mentality.”
Mathura Dutt, another senior Congress leader in the state, slammed Bhatt and said;
This is not about vote bank, our campaign will be judged by the work done by our party. BJP is known for creating divisions among people for political gains and Bhatt’s statement proves it once again.”
address
Residential address: 784, Gandhi Chowk Sadar Bazar, Ranikhet, Almora-263645, (Uttarakhand)
Current address: 301, Kaveri Apartment, Dr BD Marg, New Delhi-110001
sign
Ajay Bhatt’s signature
salary
According to his affidavit in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, his salary in the financial year 2017-18 was Rs 5.53 lakh (approximately RMB 500,000).
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 around Rs. 40.44 lakh. His net worth (as of 2019) is Rs. 19.7 crores (approximately).
Facts/Trivia
- He is interested in reading, writing and participating in debates. He enjoys reading literature, newspapers, history books and spiritual books like Ramayana and Vedas.
- Ajay is a member of Nagrik Surakshya Parishad, Rashtriya Gramothan Parishad and Uttranchal Harijan Shilp Kala Uttan. He is also the president of Ranikhet Cooperative Pharmaceutical Factory.
- He was a member of Ranikhet Club, Ranikhet and Constitution Club of India, New Delhi.
- Whenever there was a change in the post of Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Ajay’s name always topped the list of candidates for the position of Chief Minister, first when Tirath Singh Rawat replaced Trivendra Singh Rawat and later when Pushkar Singh Dhami replaced Tirath.
- Ajay Bhatt got inspiration for joining politics from veteran BJP leader and former Lok Sabha MP Murli Manohar Joshi.
- He was actively involved in the Uttarakhand statehood struggle and the Rama Nusra movement. He was a member of the Uttarakhand United League Committee. He was arrested once during the Uttarakhand statehood struggle and twice during the Rama Nusra movement.
- In November 2019, he adopted a village called Jangalia Gaon near Bhimtal in Uttarakhand, under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. The scheme was launched to enable MPs to select a village from their constituency and make it a model village. Almost a year later, media reports say Jangalia Gaon still lacks basic needs such as 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.
- According to his election affidavit for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he owns a Swift Dezire.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education