Bhagat Singh Koshyari facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bhagat Singh Koshyari
Koshyari in 2019
22nd Governor of Maharashtra
In office 5 September 2019 – 17 February 2023
Chief Minister	Devendra Fadnavis Uddhav Thackeray Eknath Shinde
Preceded by	C. Vidyasagar Rao
Succeeded by	Ramesh Bais
Governor of Goa (Additional Charge)
In office 18 August 2020 – 6 July 2021
President	Ram Nath Kovind
Chief Minister	Pramod Sawant
Preceded by	Satya Pal Malik
Succeeded by	P. S. Sreedharan Pillai
2nd Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
In office 30 October 2001 – 1 March 2002
Preceded by	Nityanand Swami
Succeeded by	N. D. Tiwari
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 26 November 2008 – 16 May 2014
Preceded by	Harish Rawat
Succeeded by	Manorama Dobriyal Sharma
Constituency	Uttarakhand
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 16 May 2014 – 23 May 2019
Preceded by	K. C. Singh Baba
Succeeded by	Ajay Bhatt
Constituency	Nainital–Udhamsingh Nagar
1'st Leader of Opposition, Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly
In office 13 March 2002 – 17 December 2003
Cabinet Minister,Government of Uttarakhand
In office 9 November 2000 – 29 October 2001
Member of Interim Uttarakhand Assembly
In office 9 November 2000 – 1 March 2002
Constituency	MLC
Member of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly
In office 1 March 2002 – 27 November 2008
Succeeded by	Sher Singh Gariya
Constituency	Kapkot
Personal details
Born	(1942-06-17) 17 June 1942 (age 83) Bageshwar, United Provinces, British India (present-day Uttarakhand, India)
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Education	Master of Arts
Alma mater	Agra University (MA)
Occupation	Teacher, Author, Journalist

Bhagat Singh Koshyari is an important Indian politician born on June 17, 1942. He served as the 22nd Governor of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2023. Before that, he held many other significant roles in Indian politics.

Mr. Koshyari is a senior member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a large Indian organization. He was also a National Vice-President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and led the party in Uttarakhand. He has been a Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, a Leader of the Opposition, and a member of both the state and national parliaments. This means he has been elected to serve people at different levels of government.

As Governor of Maharashtra, Mr. Koshyari was involved in some political events. For example, he swore in Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister. Later, he played a role in the end of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. These actions were later discussed by the Supreme Court of India.

Early Life and Education

Bhagat Singh Koshyari was born on June 17, 1942. His parents were Gopal Singh Koshyari and Motima Devi. He was born in a place called Palanadhura Chetabgarh, which is in the Bageshwar district of what was then British India. Today, this area is part of Uttarakhand, India.

Mr. Koshyari is well-educated. He earned a master's degree in English. He studied at Almora College, which was connected to Agra University at the time. While he was a student there, from 1961 to 1962, he was the general secretary of the students' union. He also served on the Executive Council of Kumaon University for several terms between 1979 and 1991.

Career as a Teacher and Journalist

Before becoming a full-time politician, Bhagat Singh Koshyari had a successful career as a teacher and journalist. He worked as a lecturer at Raja Inter College in Uttar Pradesh for a few years.

He also started and managed a weekly newspaper called Parvat Piyush. This newspaper has been published from Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, since 1975. Mr. Koshyari has also written two books. These books are titled Uttaranchal Pradesh Kyun? and Uttaranchal Sangharsh Evam Samadhan.

Journey in Politics

Bhagat Singh Koshyari joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is a big organization in India. He was part of the movement against the Indian Emergency (a period when civil liberties were suspended). Because of his involvement, he was put in jail from July 1975 to March 1977.

Early Roles in State Government

In May 1997, he became a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. This is like an upper house of the state parliament in Uttar Pradesh. When the new state of Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand) was formed in 2000, he was appointed as a minister. He was in charge of important areas like Energy, Irrigation, Law, and Legislative Affairs.

In 2001, he became the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, taking over from Nityanand Swami. He also served as the President of the BJP in his state. After his party lost the state elections in 2002, he resigned as Chief Minister in March 2002. However, he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Kapkot area. He then became the Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly until 2007.

Moving to National Politics

In the 2007 Assembly elections in Uttarakhand, he was re-elected from Kapkot. Even though his party, the BJP, won, he did not become Chief Minister again. Instead, Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri was chosen.

In November 2008, Mr. Koshyari was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha. This is the upper house of India's national parliament. He served there until 2014. During this time, he was also appointed as a national vice-president of the BJP and the BJP chief in Uttarakhand.

In the 2014 Indian general election, he was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha. This is the lower house of India's national parliament. He represented the Nainital Uddhamsingh Nagar area.

Governor of Maharashtra and Goa

On September 5, 2019, Bhagat Singh Koshyari was appointed as the Governor of Maharashtra. A governor is like the head of a state, representing the President of India. In August 2020, he was also given the additional responsibility of being the Governor of Goa.

He stepped down as the Governor of Maharashtra on February 12, 2023. He had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi a month earlier and expressed his wish to resign and retire after many years in public service.

Social Contributions

Bhagat Singh Koshyari has also contributed to society, especially in education. He founded several schools in Uttarakhand, including Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Pithoragarh, Vivekanand Vidya Mandir Inter College in Pithoragarh, and Saraswati Vihar Higher Secondary School in Nainital.

Even after many years in politics, he has remained dedicated to education. As the Governor of Maharashtra, he was also the Chancellor of the University of Mumbai. During his time as Governor since 2019, there have been important changes in higher education in Maharashtra. These include the introduction of the National Education Policy 2020 and the creation of new state cluster universities. He served as the Chancellor of these new universities, such as Dr. Homi Bhabha State University and HSNC University, Mumbai.

See also

• Koshyari ministry