Maheshwar Singh

Maheshwar Singh is a loyal, reliable and hardworking member of BJP born to Late Raja Mohinder Singh, the Raja of erstwhile Princely State of Mandi and Rajmata Vina Diveyshwari Devi . He was originally a member of Janata Party but joined BJP after its formation in 1980. He was formerly Himachal Pradesh BJP president for 3-year term of 1990-1993 and also National Executive of BJP.^[1] He is the head of the erstwhile influential royal family of Kullu. He was elected to Himachal Pradesh Assembly from Mandi. He has represented Mandi Lok Sabha seat thrice in 1989, 1998 and 1999. He was member of the Rajya Sabha from 1992-1998.^[2] He had also visited countries like China, Hong Kong and Nepal.

Political career

Originally associated with Janata Party, Maheshwar Singh joined BJP after its formation in 1980. He was elected President of BJP in Himachal Pradesh for a term of 3 year during 1990-93. He was first elected to Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1977 and remained an MLA till 1985. He was the Chief Parliamentary Secretary of Government of Himachal Pradesh during 1978-79. Maheshwar Singh made his debut into Lok Sabha when he won the December 1989 elections. He was elected into Rajya Sabha in 1992 for a 6 year term . Maheshwar returned into Lok Sabha when he defeated Pratibha Singh of Congress by a margin of 1,31,832 votes. He retained his seat in 1999 Lok Sabha elections when he defeated Kaul Singh of Congress by a margin of 1.31.025 votes. During his tenure in Parliament, as a member of both the houses Maheshwar Singh has served in various house committees and Parliamentary Standing Committees. He has been member of Committee on Petitions, Agriculture, Public Undertaking and Tourist and Transport. He had also served on the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Ministry of Rural Affairs and Employment. During his last term in 1988-99, he was member of Estimates Committee, Committee on Science & Technology, Environment and Forests and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Communications. With special interest in farming, Maheshwar Singh has been a member of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority(APEDA).^[3] Positions Held

• 1977-85 Member, Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
• 1978-79 Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Government of Himachal Pradesh
• 1989 Elected to 9th Lok Sabha
• 1990-93 President, Bharatiya Janata Party
• 1992-98 Member, Rajya Sabha
• 1992-94 Member, Committee on Petitions
• 1994-96 Member, Committee on Agriculture, Committee on Public Undertakings, Committee on Transport and Tourism, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism
• 1996-98 Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Rural Affairs and Employment
• 1998 Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (2nd term)
• 1998-99 Member, Estimates Committee, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Communications
• 1999 Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (3rd term)
• 1999-2000 Member, Committee on Government Assurances, Committee on Urban and Rural Development
• 1999-2000 and Member, Committee on Estimates
• 2000 onwards Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism and Department of Culture

^[4] Some leaders of BJP who are not happy with State Government and Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal have decided to form a non-political organisation "Himachal Bhrashtachar Mukti Morcha" under the leadership of Maheshwar Singh who had lost the last Lok Sabha election from Mandi to Union minister Virbhadra Singh. He is now preparing to contest the assembly election from Kullu seat. There are fights between Senior Political leaders of BJP in Himachal Pradesh which had already divided Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal of BJP. Maheshwar Singh has been made the convener of the Himachal Bhrashtachar Mukti Morcha, former assembly speaker Radha Raman Shastri and former Nahan MLA Shyama Sharma have been appointed co-conveners, while former minister Mohinder Nath Sofat has been appointed as spokesperson of the organization. Shanta had already announced formation of Himachal Bhrashtachar Mukti Morcha to pressurise Prem Kumar Dhumal's Government.^[5]