Dr CP Joshi- Congress Party

A Congressman representing Bhilwara, Rajasthan in the Lok Shabha, Dr. C. P Joshi is the Member of Parliament and General Secretary, All India Congress Committee .

He embarked on his first term in the Indian Parliament in May 2009 heading the Union Ministry for Rural Development and Panchayti Raj. He later took charge of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and twice held the additional charge of Railways.

A veteran politician he has been a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly for four terms and has represented his native town Nathdwara. He has been a Minister of Panchayati Raj, Education, Rural Development, Public Health Policy and Planning and Information Technology, Government of Rajasthan.

An academician he holds double masters degrees (Physics and Psychology), is a qualified lawyer who did his PhD in Psychology. He started as his career as a lecturer at the M. B. College, Udaipur and later became Professor of Psychology at Udaipur’s Mohanlal Sukhadia University.

Dr. Joshi’s first brush with politics came in 1973, when he was elected the president of students union at the Mohanlal Sukhadia University. Seven years later at the age of 30, he was elected to the state legislative assembly from Nathdwara.

Known for speaking out his mind, Joshi has maintained a straightforward approach all through his political career, something that isn’t perceived to do well in politics. He has a liking for numbers and analysis, put up a logical question and he’ll never back out of a debate.

In 2003 he was given the responsibility to head the party’s state unit as the Pradesh Congress Committee president. In his tenure he strengthened the organization and led the party to victory in state assembly elections. From 56 seats in 2003, the party came close to a clear majority in 2008 assembly elections.

Despite seeing the party home he lost election from Nathdwara by the narrowest margin of one vote.

The party showed faith in their state head and he won with an astounding margin of 1,35,368 votes from Bhilwara in 2009 General elections.

Dr. Joshi is also the president of Rajasthan Cricket Association. He sees himself as a facilitator for developing the game in the state. In his leadership Rajasthan won the Ranji Trophy tournament twice in a row. He has managed to bring ODI matches to Pink City after a hiatus, is working for getting a test venue status for Jaipur and developing cricket infrastructure across the state.

Over the years he has walked the philosophy of not expecting anything from anyone. “Walk alone and keep no references, for everyone is unique,” he sums it up.