Usha Thakur (born 3 February 1966) is an Indian politician and a member of

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha or the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Madhya Pradesh state in India. The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Bhopal, the capital of the state. It is housed in the ''Vidha ...

. She belongs to

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 Mod ...

. She is the current Cabinet Minister in the

Government of Madhya Pradesh Government of Madhya Pradesh also known as the State Government of Madhya Pradesh, or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and its 52 districts. It consists of an executive ...

Early life and education

Usha Thakur was born in

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

in an average middle-class family. She developed interest in poetry and

Hindi literature Hindi literature ( hi, हिन्दी साहित्य, translit=hindī sāhitya) includes literature in the various Hindi language which have writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃś ...

from childhood and later pursued an

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 ...

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

. She also sings Bhajan in religious ceremonies and is very vocal on her views on women.

Controversies

Usha Thakur courted controversy by supporting banning of Muslim youths from Navratra Garba venues, alleging that Muslim youths court Hindu girls with a ploy to convert them to Islam. She also urged all the garba organizers in her constituency to verify the identities of all the entrants using their voter IDs. On 25 September 2015, she said that Muslims should sacrifice their sons instead of

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s if they value the

qurban ''Qurbanī'' ( ar, قربانى), ''Qurban'', or ''uḍḥiyah'' () as referred to in Islamic law, is a ritual animal sacrifice of a livestock animal during Eid al-Adha. The concept and definition of the word is derived from the Qur'an, the s ...

i festival.

References

Living people People from Indore 1966 births Women in Madhya Pradesh politics Madhya Pradesh politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Madhya Pradesh 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Politicians from Indore {{MadhyaPradesh-BJP-politician-stub