AJIT JOGI

'Ajit Jogi' (born 29 April, 1946) is a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Mahasamund constituency of Chhattisgarh and is a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party.
He was the first of between and . Despite having suffered a severe while campaigning during the , he is presently the only elected Congress Member of Parliament from Chhattisgarh (). He studied Mechanical Engineering at the winning the University Gold Medal in . After having worked briefly as a lecturer at the , he took the nationwide examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and was selected for the (IPS, 1968-70) and (IAS, 1970-86). He holds the all-India Record for the longest serving (13 years), having served as collector of Sidhi, Shahdol, Raipur and Indore districts of undivided Madhya Pradesh. At the behest of the then Prime Minister Late Mr , he resigned to take the plunge into politics and become Member of the (India's Upper House), where he served two terms (1986-92, 92-98). In , he won the seat after defeating the state president and entered the for the first time. He was the Congress Party's and - positions he held until he was elected Chief Minister of the newly created state of Chhattisgarh on November 1, . He has served and headed several Parliamentary Committees, the SC, ST and OBC Department of the AICC and been President of the .

Contents

Positions Held

Books Published

Countries Visited

Other information

Controversies

Using different caste certificate

Paying Bribes to BJP MLA

Arrest

External link

Positions Held

★ 1986-87 Member, All India Congress Committee (AICC) on welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

★ - Member, (2 terms)

★ - General secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee, Also, member of committees on Public Undertakings, Industries and Railways.

★ Central Observer of the Indian National Congress for elections to from constituencies in .

★ Central Observer of the Indian National Congress for elections to Assembly.

★ 1995-96 Chairman of

★ Member, Core group, AICC Parliamentary elections (Lok Sabha)

★ Observer, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee Elections. Member, AICC. Member of committees on Transport and Tourism, Rural and Urban Development, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Coal, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Energy, , Convenor, Sub-Committee on Indirect Taxes, , Rajya Sabha

★ Elected to 12th

★ 1998- Spokesman, AICC, Whip, , Working President,

★ 1998-99 Member, Committee on and its Sub-Committee-II on , Consultative Committee,

★ - Chief minister of

★ - ()

★ 2004- Member,

★ 2004- Member, (CWC)

★ 2005 Chairman, AICC Central Election Committee for VS election

★ 2006 Co-chairman, AICC Central Election Committee for l VS election

★ 2006- Chairman,

Books Published

# The Role of District Collector ()
# Administration of Peripheral Areas (LBNAA)
# Drishtikon: An anthology of articles written for Dainik Bhaskar (1997-99) (Rajkamal)
# Sadi ke mod par ()
# Phoolkunwar (Rajkamal)
# Mor Madar ke thaap: A Collection of poems (jointly with Dr Renu Jogi)
# Short stories, articles in , , , , , , etc.

Countries Visited

Widely travelled (23 countries);
Member:
# Indian Delegation to the for the , ,
# Indian Delegation to the Centennial , , 1996
# Indian Delegation to , ,

Other information

★ Conferred "Most Outstanding Man" of the State Award by Giants' International,

★ Lecturer, , , 1967-68

★ , Students' Union, Bhopal, 1967; and Student Body, (LBNAA),
Mussoorie, 1970-71

★ Chairman, State Government Minor Forest, Produce Committee, 1988-90

★ Member, Governing Bodies, Council of , , Education Consultancy of India Limited, , and , St. Stephen's Hospital, and ,

★ Member, (Officer), , 1968-70,

★ (Collector and District Magistrate, , , and districts of , -)

★ , 1992-94

★ Implementation Committee of AICC and Court of , 1998-99.

★ Undertook Padyatra (travel by foot), covering 1500 km in eastern tribal belt of to spread general awareness and mobilise support for the , , covering 185 km from to Deobhag in the Diamond belt of District, to spread awareness among the tribals against the entry of multinational corporations in Diamond-Mining Sector; holding All India record of the longest serving Collector/District Magistrate for 12 years at Sidhi, Shahdol, Raipur and Indore districts of Madhya Pradesh, 1974-1986.

Controversies

Using different caste certificate

It was alleged by opposition party mainly BJP that Ajit Jogi used different caste certificate to his advantage in elections. In December 2006, a double bench of the Chhattisgarh High Court headed by the Chief Justice quashed the National SC and ST Commission proceedings against Jogi, and upheld his status as a Scheduled Tribe. In its judgment, the hon'ble court not only heavily criticized the Raman Singh state government for 'harassing the petitioner (Jogi)" and "wasting public money" but also imposed costs and penalties on the complainant, Sant Kumar Netam, for making false allegations without any basis.
===His son Amit Jogi===
It is alleged that Amit Jogi handled behind the scene politics during the tenure of his father as Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. The CBI arrested him for allegedly conspiring to murder opposition party leader Ram Avtar Jaggi in June 2003 at Raipur. After having spent ten months in Raipur Central Jail, he was granted bail in May 2006, which was cancelled by the Supreme Court a year later in May 2007. On 31st May, 2007, the trial court at Raipur acquitted him of all charges. In its finding, the court observed that Amit was a victim of political vendetta hatched by his father's rival, Vidya Charan Shukla.

Paying Bribes to BJP MLA

He was suspended briefly from Indian National Congress for bribing MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party to form an alternative/rebel government after his party lost majority in assembly elections in 2003. His was the shortest suspension in the history of the 121 year old party. In less than four months, he was back in Parliament as the lone elected Lok Sabha member from his state and Member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's apex body. Recently, the Law Department has advised that no case can be made out against him under sections 12 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act since the recipients of the alleged monies did not qualify as 'public servants'.

Arrest

He was arrested on 18th March 2007 by an armed contingent of the Raipur police at Gandai while campaigning for the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha bye-election. After complaining of high blood pressure and chest pain, he was shifted to the Escorts Heart Centre at Raipur. A non-bailable warrant (NBW) had been issued against him by the ACJM Satyabama Dubey on the basis of a private complaint filed by Satish Jaggi on 3rd March 2007, some four years after his father Ram Avtar Jaggi had been shot dead. Jaggi had alleged that Jogi and his son were behind his father's killing. The Sessions Court granted Jogi bail two days later on 20th March 2007. Jogi is reported to have moved the High Court for quashing this case.

External link

★ Home Page on the Parliament of India's Website