Thawarchand Gehlot has been appointed the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. He has replaced ailing Arun Jaitley, who was a Finance Minister and also a Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha from 2014 to 2019.
Thawarchand Gehlot, a prominent Dalit face of the BJP is the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in Narendra Modi cabinet. He has held the portfolio since 2014.
During his stint as minister during the first Modi government, as a minister from 2014 to 2019, Thawarchand Gehlot scripted several schemes for the welfare of the deprived sections of the society as well as for the physically-challenged people.
Gehlot represents Shajapur reserved Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh between 1996 and 2009.
Thawarchand Gehlot in 2009 lost the Lok Sabha poll to Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma, who is currently a minister in the Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government.
He became a Rajya Sabha member in 2012 and was re-elected to the Upper House of Parliament from Madhya Pradesh in 2018. His Rajya Sabha term will end in 2024.
Thawarchand Gehlot, who is considered close to PM MOdi,is one of the most noticeable faces from the Scheduled Caste (SC), was earlier deputed as the central observer for the BJP in Gujarat.
He was also the general secretary in-charge of the BJP in the national capital as well as Karnataka, and also headed the party’s Scheduled Caste cell.
He is currently a member of the BJP’s parliamentary board
Thawarchand Gehlot was born in Rupeta village in Nagda tehsil of Ujjain district on May 18, 1948, He graduated from Vikram University, Ujjain.
