Vasundhara Raje

Vasundhara Raje Scindia, better known as Vasundhara Raje (born March 8, 1953 in Bombay, now Mumbai, India) is an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She is Chief Minister of Rajasthan since December 13, 2013. She already held this post from 2003 to 2008.

Vasundhara Raje is a descendant of Indian Maratha Fürstenfamilie Scindia. Her father George Jivajirao Scindia was the last reigning Maharaja of the Indian princely state Gwalior and from 1947 to the States Reorganization Act 1956 Rajpramukh of Madhya Bharat. Vasundhara was one of five children of the Maharaja. She attended the Presentation Convent at Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu) and then studied economics and politics at Sophia College, University of Bombay, where she earned a BA degreereceived.

Raje began her political career in the state of Rajasthan. In 1985-87, she was vice-chairman of the local youth organization of the BJP (Yuva Morcha BJP). In 1987 she became Vice President of the BJP in Rajasthan. In 1985-89 she was elected MP in Rajasthan parliament for constituency 78-Dholpur. From the general election in 1989, she was deputy of the total Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) for the constituency 15-Jhalawar and was there for the following all-India elections in 1991, 1996, 1998 and 1999 respectively re-elected.

After the BJP with Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1998 could make the Prime Minister, Raje held ministerial positions in various Indian governments. From 1998 to 1999 she was the Indian Foreign Minister in Vajpayee's second cabinet. In the third Cabinet Vajpayee had on 13 October 1999 to 29 January 2003, the Office of Secretary of State with its own portfolio (Minister of State with Independent Charge) in the field of small and agricultural industries, as well as other responsibilities in the areas of pensions, personnel, public grievance being, Atomic Energy and Space. From November 2, 2001 to January 29, 2003, she also received responsibility for the Planning Commission.

After the BJP won the parliamentary election in 2003 in Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje was elected Chief Minister of Rajasthan. She was the first woman to hold this post at this time. Since this election, she is a permanent member of the Parliament of Rajasthan for the constituency of 198-Jhalrapatan (2015). The Office of the Chief Minister she held from December 8, 2003 to December 13, 2008. During her tenure, she put a focus of her government on improving the infrastructure of Rajasthan and various social initiatives (education, women's rights, etc.). During her tenure, however, there were also significant violent riots caused by castesRivalries. The influential community of the Gujjars rebelled against the government because it did not want to grant it the status of an appointed tribe. On the other hand, the community of the meenas, recognized as an appointed tribe, did not want to share this status with the Gujars. As a result of the dispute and its tough stance, the government lost many potential votes and the 2008 general election in Rajasthan was lost to the BJP, with Raje leading the opposition in the Rajasthani parliament from 2008 to 2013. After the successful election for the BJP in 2013, she was again elected Chief Minister on 13 December 2013.