Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Former VP Dies
By Arnab Ghosh, Gaea News NetworkSaturday, May 15, 2010
JAIPUR, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the former Vice president of India has passed away. He died today at Jaipur after suffering from breathing disorders for the last couple of days. He was admitted to the Swai Man Singh hospital on May 13 and later was shifted to the ICU. The 87 year old veteran politician passed away today morning and it has been confirmed by superintendent of the hospital Dr Narpat Singh. When his condition worsened today morning, the doctors decided to put him on ventilator support. However, that failed to keep him alive finally.
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was India’s 11th Vice-President and he was known as a matured and efficient politician. He started working as the Vice president from August 2002. He resigned from his position after suffering defeat at the 2007 Presidential race to UPA candidate Pratibha Patil. The latter is now the President of India. In his political career he also worked as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan three times. He proved to give congress some serious competition in Rajasthan over the years.
He was in the Bharatiya Jan Sangh in the 1960s and after its split in 1980s he joined the Bhartiya Janata Party. He was one of its founders. BJP tasted considerable success with him and it was only in 1998 that his government got defeated owing to onion price issue. For bagging the post of the Vice President in 2002, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat defeated Sushil Kumar Shinde, the contender from congress by a difference of 149 votes. He has left behind a daughter and his wife.
