Former Indian Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat dies at 87

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, former Vice president of India, passed away on May 15, 2010, at the age of 87. He died at Jaipur at 11.10 a.m. His death was confirmed by Dr. Narpat Singh, superintendent of the hospital.

He was admitted to the Swai Man Singh Hospital on May 13, 2010 for breathing disorders. Later, he was shifted to ICU. His condition worsened in the morning and doctors decided to put him on ventilator support but it did not work.

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was married to Shrimati Suraj Kanwar. The couple had a daughter Shrimati Ratan Kanwar, who is married to Shri Narpat Singh Rajvi, senior BJP leader of Rajasthan and a former cabinet minister in the Govt. of Rajashan. They have three children.

A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was the 11^th Vice President of India. He served in that position from August 2002 to July 21, 2007. He lost the presidential election to Pratibha Patil. He was also the leading member of the National Democratic Alliance.

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat served as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan three times- from 1977 to 1980, 1990 to 1992 and 1993 to 1998.

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was born on October 23, 1923 in the village of Khachariawas, in the district of Sikar in Rajasthan. His father’s name was Shri Devi Singh Shekhawat and his mother was Shrimati Banne Kanwar.

He was in the Bharatiya Jan Sangh in the 1960s. After its split in the 1980s, he joined BJP and became one of its founding members. Through out his career, he was very much successful. He was defeated once in 1998 due to onion price issue.