Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Biography: Culture & Tourism Minister’s Education, Family Background, Age, and More

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Biography: With BJP’s victory in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 results, Narendra Modi was elected as the Prime Minister of India for the third time, and took oath at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan along with other 72 ministers. Out of the 72 ministers, 30 were elected as cabinet ministers, five as ministers of state with independent charge, and 36 ministers of state. In Modi 3.0, the union ministers have been given their respective ministries, with some new faces and some old ones continuing their second term. While Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Rajnath Singh continued their previous roles, Chirag Paswan, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Jitan Ram Manjhi, and many others were designated with new ministries.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will be managing the Ministry of Culture & Tourism in the new Modi government. Previously, Shekhawat was given the Jal Shakti Ministry. Let us know more about the new Culture & Tourism Minister, age, education, and more.

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Early Life & Education

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was born in 1967 in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. His father, Shankar Singh Shekhawat, was a senior government officer in the public health department who frequently travelled across the state to work at various schools. Shekhawat earned a Master of Arts and a Master of Philosophy from Jai Narain Vyas University in Jodhpur. 

Political Career

Shekhawat began his political career in student politics when he was elected president of the JNVU University Student Union in 1992, receiving more votes than any previous Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad member.

Shekhawat was appointed National General Secretary of the BJP Kisan Morcha, the farmers' wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a member of the Rajasthan State Executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party. 

In 2014, he was elected as a member of parliament to the 16th Lok Sabha from the Jodhpur constituency with the largest-ever margin (4,10,051 votes). During his term as an MP, he worked on the expansion of Jodhpur Airport, which was a significant accomplishment for Shekhawat. 

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Jal Shakti Minister

On September 3, 2017, he was appointed Union Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. In the 2019 Indian general elections, he defeated Vaibhav Gehlot, son of Rajasthan’s CM Ashok Gehlot, by 2.74 lakh votes from Jodhpur. Shekhawat became the Minister of Jal Shakti on May 31, 2019. Shekhawat has been appointed Minister of Culture and Tourism in the new Modi government.

Other Notable Works

Before entering politics, Shekhawat held numerous positions in various forums and organizations, including co-convener of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, the economic wing of the Sangh Parivar, and General Secretary of Seema Jan Kalyan Samiti, an organization dedicated to strengthening national security by developing border towns and villages. As General Secretary, he played a key role in establishing a second line of defense made up of civilians living near the Rajasthan border. He also contributed in expanding the reach of civil defense by establishing 40 schools and four hostels along the India-Pakistan border.