| Bhagat Singh Koshiyari | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Religion | Hindu |
Bhagat Singh Koshiyari (Sanskrit: भगत सिंह कोश्यारी) is an Indian politician. He was the leader of the opposition of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2007. He had earlier served as the second Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, previously Uttaranchal under his administration.
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Bhagat Singh Koshyari was born in Bageshwar on June 17, 1942. He completed his basic education in Almora and went on to receive a master's degree in English Literature from the University of Agra. He was state chief of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during 2005-2007. The leader of the opposition at that time was Matbar Singh Kandari.
He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He took part in the struggle against the Emergency and was imprisoned. In 2000, he was appointed minister of Energy, Irrigation, Law, and Legislative Affairs of the newly created state of Uttaranchal. In 2001 he replaced Nityanand Swami as the chief minister. He has also served as the President of the BJP of his state. As a result of his party's defeat in the 2002 Assembly elections, he resigned as the chief minister and became the leader of the opposition of the Uttaranchal Legislative Assembly.
Despite the BJP's victory in the 2007 Assembly elections in Uttarakhand, Koshiyari was deprived of the Chief Minister's post by his chief rival, Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri. Media reports have cited that the BJP's central leadership was baised for Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, despite his support from the RSS and a majority of the elected MLAs. People of Uttarakhand has shown disaggrement of this decision and BJP lost all seats in General Parliament Election 2009. Now he is member of Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand. Party have also appointed him national vice president of BJP for his clean image and popularity among public.
| Preceded by Nityanand Swami |
Chief Minister of Uttarakhand 2001–2002 |
Succeeded by Narayan Dutt Tiwari |