imported>Scorpions13256 at 17:26, 24 June 2021

2021-06-24T17:26:41Z

New page

{{Short description|Former Indian government minister}}
{{more footnotes|date=May 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Bhavnaben Devrajbhai Chikhalia
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1955|2|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Junagadh district|Devalki]], [[Saurashtra (state)|Saurashtra]], [[India]]
| residence = [[Junagadh]], [[Gujarat]]
| order = Ex [[Minister of State]]
| term = 2003 - 2004
| order2 = [[Member of Parliament]]
| term2 = 1991 - 2004
| constituency2 = [[Junagadh]]
| party = [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
| spouse = Devraj Chikhalia
| children= 1
| alma_mater = [[Gujarat University]]
| death_date ={{dda|df=y|2013|6|28|1955|2|14}}
| death_place =[[Ahmedabad]], [[Gujarat]], [[India]]
| footnotes =
| date =
| year =
| source =
}}
'''Bhavna Chikhalia''' ({{lang-gu| ભાવના ચીખલિયા }}&lrm;; 14 February 1955 – 28 June 2013) was a Minister of State of Parliamentary Affairs and of Tourism and Culture in [[Government of India]] from 2003 to 2004. She was also a member of [[Lok Sabha]] and the first lady of Gujarat who won four consecutive term of Lok Sabha from Junagadh constituency, [[Gujarat]] (from 1991 to 2004). She was executive secretary of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) Parliamentary Wing from 1993 to 1996, and party [[Whip (politics)|Whip]] and Party Vice President in 1998. She was Chairperson of the Railway Convention Committee during 1999–2002.

==Early life==
Bhavna Chikhalia was born in 1955 in a middle-class family in a small town Devalki near Junagadh, Gujarat. Her father, Jamnadas Patel, was in construction business and Savitaben Patel was a pious homemaker. She has three siblings. Chikhalia was married to Devraj Chikhalia, who is a general surgeon and urologist in Gujarat.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

==Political career==
She has started her profession as a lawyer (B.Com, L.L.B.) and has been a social worker ever since. Chikhalia was elected as a Member of Parliament for the very first time in 1991 of [[10th Lok Sabha]] from Junagadh constituency [[Gujarat]]. In 1993 she became an executive secretary of BJP's parliamentary wing. She was re-elected as a Member of Parliament in 1996 of [[11th Lok Sabha]]. She became an active member of Committee on Government Assurances, Communication and Consultative Committee of Ministry of Railways in 1996–97. In 1998 she was elected for the third term as a Member of Parliament of [[12th Lok Sabha]]. She was the Vice President of National [[BJP Mahila Morcha]] in 1998-2000 and Chairperson of Railway Convention Committee in 1999–2002.

On 17 April 1999, the BJP coalition government led by Prime Minister [[Atal Behari Vajpayee]] failed a to win a confidence vote in the Lok Sabha (India's lower house), falling short a single vote due to the withdrawal of one of the government's coalition partners – the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK). [[Sonia Gandhi]], as leader of the opposition and largest opposition party ([[Indian National Congress]]) was unable to form a coalition of parties large enough to secure a working majority in the Lok Sabha. Thus shortly after the no confidence motion, President K. R. Narayanan dissolved the Parliament and called fresh elections. [[Atal Behari Vajpayee]] remained caretaker prime minister till the [[1999 Indian general election]] were held later that year.

In the by-election of 1999, Chikhalia became the first lady from Gujarat elected four times in a row as a Member of Parliament by getting elected for the fourth term in a row in 1999 of [[13th Lok Sabha]]. She was the vice president of all India BJP in 2000. She was the vice president of National Co-operative Housing Federation of India in 2000. She was a chairperson of Gujarat State Housing Finance Corporation for five years. she was made the Minister of Tourism & Culture, and also held the post of Minister of Parliamentary Affairs with BJP leader [[Sushma Swaraj]]. She held these posts from January 2003 until May 2004, when the National Democratic Alliance government lost elections.

She died of cardiac arrest in 2013.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130701042244/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-28/ahmedabad/40255089_1_former-union-bjp-state-spokesperson-k-jadeja Former BJP union minister Bhavna Chikhalia dead]</ref>

==Important political positions==
1993-1996 Executive Secretary, BJP (Parliamentary Affairs)
1996-1998 Member of [[National Shipping Board]]
1996-1998 Vice President, Gujarat Pradesh [[BJP Mahila Morcha]]
1996-1998 Vice President, All India [[BJP Mahila Morcha]]
1998 Whip, BJP Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha
1998 Executive Committee Member, BJP Parliamentary Party
2000 Vice President, All India BJP
1991-2004 Member of Parliament
2003-2004 [[Minister of State]] of Tourism & Culture and Parliamentary Affairs

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070423193743/http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lok13/biodata/13GJ06.htm Entry on Mrs.Bhavna Chikhalia at the official Indian Parliament website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110703124456/http://164.100.24.208/ls/committeeR/railwaycon/4.pdf Mrs. Bhavna Chikhalia as a Chairperson of Railway Convention Committee]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101117225207/http://www.indianembassy.hr/bilateral-relations.html Embassy of India and INDIA-CROATIA RELATIONS]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110706163155/http://www.indianembassythimphu.bt/Indo-Bhutan%20Book/Pages/10%20Festival%20of%20India%20Photo%20Feature.pdf Mrs. Bhavna Chikhalia in Festival of India & Bhutan]
* [http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/chikhalia-seeksfifth-term/185148/ News Link on Mrs. Bhavna Chikhalia]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chikhalia, Bhavna}}
[[Category:Women in Gujarat politics]]
[[Category:People from Junagadh district]]
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:10th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:11th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:12th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:13th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Union ministers of state of India]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Women union ministers of state of India]]
[[Category:Women members of the Lok Sabha]]

Bhavna Chikhalia - Revision history

imported>Scorpions13256 at 17:26, 24 June 2021