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 The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. He is a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. 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.

Early life

Shanta Kumar Sharma was born to Jagannath Sharma and Kaushalya Devi on 12 September 1934 in Garhjamula, Kangra district, Punjab Province.

Political career

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. He was elected to the

Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The seat of the Assembly is at Shimla, the capital of the state. There are 68 Members of Legislative Assembly, al ...

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 A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

of Himachal Pradesh in 1977. He held the post till 1980 and came back to head the Government again in 1990 and stayed till 1992. He had enforced "No Work, No Pay" policy during his second term as Chief Minister for strongly dealing with the striking government employees. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1985. 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. He was Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution from 1999 to 2002 and Union Minister of Rural Development from 2002 to 2004. He was elected to the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

from Himachal Pradesh in 2008. In 2014, he was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from Kangra. In 2014-15 he chaired a committee on the restructuring of the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Personal background

He was married to Santosh Shailja in 1964. He has three daughters Indu Sharma, Renu Mujumdar, Shalini Sathyan and a son Vikram Sharma. His wife died in December 2020 due to coronavirus at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda. 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.

Election results

Writing

Kumar's books include: *''Dharti Balidan Ki'', 1962 *''Himalaya Par Lal Chhaya'', 1964 *''Vishwa Vijeta Vivekanand'', 1968 *''Lajo'', 1976 *''Man Ke Meet'', 1976 *''Kaidi'', 1976 *''Jyotirmayi'', 1977 *''O Pravasi Meet Mere'', 1977 *''Mrigtrishna'', 1980 *''Kranti Abhi Adhoori Hai'', 1985 *''Deewar Ke Us Paar'', 1995 *''Rajneeti Ki Shatranj'', 1997 *''Tumhare Pyar Ki Pati'', 1999 *''Vrinda'', 2007 *A Patriot monk Swami Vivekananda, 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Shanta People from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh 1934 births Living people India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1998–1999 Lok Sabha members from Himachal Pradesh Rajya Sabha members from Himachal Pradesh India MPs 2014–2019 Leaders of the opposition in Himachal Pradesh Chief ministers from Janata Party Janata Party politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians People from Punjab Province (British India) Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1977–1982 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1982–1985 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1990–1992