View source for Ashwini Kumar Chopra

{{Short description|Indian journalist (1956–2020)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name        = Ashwini Kumar Chopra
| image       = Ashwini Kumar.jpg
| caption     = Director, Editor : [[Punjab Kesari]]
| term_start         = 16 May 2014
| term_end           = 23 May 2019
| predecessor        = [[Arvind Kumar Sharma]]
| successor          = [[Sanjay Bhatia]]
| constituency       = [[Karnal (Lok Sabha constituency)|Karnal]]
| birth_name  = 
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|df=yes|1956|06|11}}
| birth_place = [[Jalandhar]], [[East Punjab|Punjab]], [[India]]
| death_date  =  {{Death date and age|df=yes|2020|01|18| 1956|06|11}}
| death_place = [[Gurugram]], [[Haryana]], [[India]]
| education   = Graduation from [[Guru Nanak Dev University]]. Masters in Journalism from [[Panjab University, Chandigarh|Punjab University]].
| alias       = Minna
| occupation  = [[Cricketer]], [[Journalist]], [[Politician]]
| status      = 
| title       = [[Member of Parliament]], [[Lok Sabha]]
| spouse      = Kiran Chopra
| children    = 3
| website     =
}}

'''Ashwini Kumar Chopra''' (11 June 1956 – 18 January 2020), was a senior journalist and resident editor of the [[Punjab Kesari]],<ref>e-paper : [http://www.punjabkesari.com Punjab Keari]</ref> in [[Delhi]]. He got elected to 16th Lok Sabha from [[Karnal]] as a candidate of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]], and was the eldest son of the third generation from the journalists' family who own the Hindsamachar group of newspapers. During the days of [[Punjab insurgency|terrorism in Punjab]], his grandfather Lala [[Jagat Narain]] and father Romesh Chander were assassinated in 1981 and 1984 respectively. In their collective bid to curb terrorism through a drive by the journalists and activists, [[Punjab Kesari]] is commonly called the newspaper of martyr journalists.<ref>Road from Delhi to New Delhi : 14 April 2013 [http://newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/Road-from-Delhi-to-New-Delhi/2013/04/14/article1544020.ece The Sunday Standard]</ref><ref>India's Newspaper Revolution: Capitalism, Politics and the Indian-language, Page 95, {{ISBN|1850654344}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=D2H7ByahsJ0C&pg=PA95&dq=ashwini+kumar+chopra+punjab+kesari&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Y-VqUrK8D8iErAfNlICIDw#v=onepage&q=ashwini%20kumar%20chopra%20punjab%20kesari&f=true]</ref> <br />
[[File:PKD1.jpg|thumb|left|200x200px|Punjab Kesari, [[Delhi]] with daily ''Special Editorial'' at page one]]

== Education ==
After graduating from [[Guru Nanak Dev University]], Ashwini obtained a master's degree in Journalism from [[Panjab University, Chandigarh|Punjab University]]. In his quest for in depth study of journalism, he opted for a master's degree in Journalism from [[University of California, Berkeley]] and thereafter under the guidance of his grandfather and father stepped into journalism and while being in USA Ashwini worked for the [[San Francisco Chronicle]] for about 6 months and later he worked with [[The Times Group]] in Delhi, India.

==Cricketing career==
Prior to entering journalism full-time, he played under the name of Ashwini Minna for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy and played a total of 25 first class matches between 1975–76 and 1979-80.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/39/39846/39846.html|title = The Home of CricketArchive}}</ref> He was a leg-spinner and was being considered for the Indian team from 1975 to 1977, but could not do much against the MCC touring team of 1976-77. His maiden first-class wicket was that of Sunil Gavaskar in the Irani Cup match of 1975-76.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/35/35671.html|title = The Home of CricketArchive}}</ref>

== Career ==
Ashwini is well known for his daily page one, ''Special Editorial'' with bold and popular wording.<ref>The Transformation for a Change : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh3suGDbQkk Media Coverage on Mar23,2014]</ref> He was given [[Lok Sabha]] ticket by [[BJP]] for 2014 from [[Karnal (Lok Sabha constituency)|Karnal]]. He was the New MP from Karnal.<ref>Narendra Modi's : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2g3oIKd2mM Haryana Rally on Mar29,2014]</ref> He won by a huge margin.

{{Election box begin | title=[[2014 Indian general elections|General Election, 2014]]}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Bharatiya Janata Party
  |candidate  = Ashwini Kumar Chopra
  |votes      =  594,817 
  |percentage = 49.84%
  |change     = +26.98%
}}{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Indian National Congress
  |candidate  = Dr. [[Arvind Kumar Sharma]]
  |votes      =  234,670 
  |percentage = 19.66%
  |change     = -17.91%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Indian National Lok Dal 
  |candidate  = Jaswinder Singh Sandhu 
  |votes      =  187,902 
  |percentage = 15.74%
  |change     = +15.74%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Bahujan Samaj Party
  |candidate  = Virender Maratha 
  |votes      =  102,628 
  |percentage = 8.60%
  |change     = -19.56%
}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = None of the above
  |candidate  = None of the above
  |votes      = 2,929
  |percentage = 0.25%
  |change     = ---
}}

{{Election box majority|
   |votes      =  360,147 
   |percentage = 30.18%
   |change     = +15.47%
 }}
 {{Election box turnout|
   |votes      =    1,193,500 
   |percentage =
   |change     =
 }}
 {{Election box gain with party link|
   |winner     = Bharatiya Janata Party
   |loser      = Indian National Congress
   |swing      =
 }}
{{Election box end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Arvind Kumar Sharma]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament<br />for [[Karnal (Lok Sabha constituency)|Karnal]] |years=2014 – 2019}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sanjay Bhatia]]}}
|-
{{s-end}}

{{Newspapers in India}}
{{16th LS members from Haryana}}



{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopra, Ashwini}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Journalists from Haryana]]
[[Category:Indian columnists]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:People from New Delhi]]
[[Category:16th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:People from Jalandhar district]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Haryana]]
[[Category:Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Haryana]]
[[Category:Indian male journalists]]
[[Category:Punjab, India cricketers]]