Vijaya Barthwal is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

politician from the Bhartiya Janta Party. She is one of the most senior and active politician in Uttarakhand. She is three term

Member of the 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 ...

and had represented Yamkeshwar

assembly constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. She was in the Cabinet of chief minister

B. C. Khanduri Major General Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri (Retd.), AVSM, (born 1 October 1934) is an Indian politician. He was Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2007 to 2009 and 2011 to 2012. He was a Member of Parliament in the 16th Lok Sabha representing the ...

and

Ramesh Pokhriyal Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank" (born 15 July 1959), is an Indian politician who was appointed on 31 May 2019 to serve as Minister of Human Resource Development and as of July 2020, following the ministry's name change, his title was changed to Min ...

's government. She is also served as the first deputy speaker of

Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly The Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, also known as the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, is a unicameral governing and law making body of Uttarakhand, one of the 28 states of India. It is seated at Dehradun, the winter capital, and Bhararisain, the summ ...

Career

Vijaya began her career from the political party

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 elected first time as

in 2002. Later she won as a candidate of

in the 2007 and 2012 Uttarakhand Assembly Election. She never lost any election in her career. In 2017 assembly elections barthwal was denied party ticket and BJP decided to field Ritu Khanduri daughter of former uttarakhand chief minister instead of her against huge public outrage. Barthwal was the only women BJP MLA in the third assembly and holds an image of down to earth political worker. Barthwal filed the nomination to fight as an independent candidate but later withdrew her nomination supporting her party's decision.

Chairperson State Women Commission

On 22 December 2018, Senior BJP leader Vijay Barthwal has been made the chairperson of Uttarakhand State Women's commission. Barthwal was expected to be accommodated since she was denied the Assembly ticket from Yamkeshwar Assembly segment in 2017 despite being a sitting MLA. The party had fielded Ritu Khanduri, daughter of former Chief Minister B C Khanduri, from the constituency who had won. Here tenure as Uttarakhand State Women Commission chairperson ended in December 2021.

Cabinet minister

In 2007, Barthwal took oath as a Cabinet minister for Village Development, Culture, Women welfare and Child Development in Khanduri's Government and again in Nishank's Government uptill 2012 .

Deputy Speaker

BJP MLA Vijaya Barthawal was unanimously elected the first deputy speaker of

. The BJP MLA from Yamkeshwar assembly seat in Pauri district, Barthawal, was elected the first deputy speaker of the state assembly with the main Opposition

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

and

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national level political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), alon ...

decided not to field any candidate against her. After the formal announcement of her election by the assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor, the ruling party members including leader of the house and Chief Minister B C Khanduri greeted Barthawal saying, getting elected, as a woman, for this high constitutional post is a step forward towards the women empowerment in the state. However, the main Opposition Indian National Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party members abstained on the occasion. Leaders of both the parties said they decided not to field any candidates against Barthwal as they do not have enough number in the house to win the election. They also criticised the ruling

for not following the healthy traditions of a parliamentary democracy and said that the post of deputy speaker goes to the opposition by convention. There was no deputy speaker in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

since the state was formed in November 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barthwal, Vijaya People from Pauri Garhwal district Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttarakhand Uttarakhand MLAs 2002–2007 Living people 21st-century Indian politicians 1952 births Uttarakhand MLAs 2007–2012 Uttarakhand MLAs 2012–2017