Ashok Bajpai (born 26 July 1949) is a politician from

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

and member of the Upper House of Indian Parliament –

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

. Bajpai has been active for 40 years in

Indian Politics Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary democratic secular republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the prime minister of India is t ...

. He was elected on Six occasions

Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA) from Pihani constituency in

Hardoi Hardoi is a city and municipal board in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Hardoi district. History The early history of Hardoi is obscure. The name suggests a Bhar, a Dalit caste ...

district,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

while losing three times in the same constituency over the period of 30 years. He was also a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) of

Early life and education

Bajpai was born into a farmer's family in a small village in

. He was a

National Cadet Corps National Cadet Corps may refer to: *Bangladesh National Cadet Corps * National Cadet Corps (Ghana) *National Cadet Corps (India) * National Cadet Corps (Pakistan) *National Cadet Corps (Singapore) *National Cadet Corps (Sri Lanka) The Nation ...

(NCC) cadet in his school days, where he won a Gold Medal in shooting. He completed his

Bachelors in Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

(BSc) from

Lucknow University The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher edu ...

and then went on to do a

Diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

Public Administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

. He holds double

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

. Bajpai's later chose

as a subject for his PhD as well. He is the author of the book entitled 'Panchayati Raj in India'. Bajpai also received a degree in law.

Political journey

Bajpai became actively involved in politics as a student and started his political career with

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) () is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). History The ABVP, founded in 1948 with the initiative of the RSS a ...

. He was an active participant in the ''

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

Movement''. He went to jail in June 1975 during the protest against

the Emergency (India) The Emergency in India was a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country. Officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution beca ...

and stayed in the jail as a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

for a period of 19 months. After getting released from jail, he joined
Janata Party
' and was appointed National Secretary of its Youth League in

. He has been elected to the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house filled by direct election using a single-member first-past-the-p ...

multiple times. He was elected to

from Uttar Pradesh in March 2018. * He first entered the

in the year 1977 on the Janata Part
Janata Party
ticket. He became the Minister for Higher Education and Hill Development. * In 1985, Bajpai was re-elected to the

and was made the

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

of that assembly. * In 1989, he was Education Minister in the

Uttar Pradesh Government The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...

. * In 1992, he became a founding member of the newly formed

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

and won with a wide margin in the state elections. * In 1996, he once again became M.L.A from

. * From 1998–2002, he successfully chaired the Lok Lekha Samiti (Public Accounts Committee) four times consecutively. * In 2003, he was re-elected M.L.A from Hardoi district. * In 2003, he held the office of Minister for Food and Civil Supplies in the Government of Uttar Pradesh . * From 2004–2007 he was the Cabinet Minister for Agriculture and Religious Work . * In 2016, he was elected to

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad'') is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. Uttar Pradesh is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is ...

. He resigned from the council in August 2017. * In 2018, he was elected to

from Uttar Pradesh.

Published books

Panchayati Raj in India – Two Volumes
* Panchayati Raj and Rural Development * Role of Panchayati Raj in India * U.P mein Gandhiji

References

Pihani Election Results, Pihani Constituency Map

*[http://www.firstpost.com/topic/person/rahul-gandhi-samajwadi-party-ls-candidate-from-lucknow-ashok-vajpayee-addressing-media-video-H3240PB4HxY-92252-1.html Samajwadi Party LS candidate from Lucknow Ashok Bajpai addressing media – Rahul Gandhi Videos : Firstpost Topic] *Ashok Bajpai, Mahabir Singh Verm
Panchayati Raj in India, a New Thrush
*Mahendra Gau
''Indian Affairs Annual 2006''
*The Hindu : Nationa

*http://docs2.myneta.info/affidavits/ews2up2012/1237/05_DR.ASHOK%20BAJPAI_CR.PDF * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bajpai, Ashok Living people 1950 births People from Hardoi Janata Party politicians Janata Dal politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1989–1991 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1993–1996 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1997–2002 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2002–2007 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1985–1989 Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India) State cabinet ministers of Uttar Pradesh Members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Rajya Sabha members from the Bharatiya Janata Party Samajwadi Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh