Chandrashekhar Azad (politician)
Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan (born 5 December 1987; Hindi pronunciation: [t͡ʃən̪d̪ɾəʃeːkʰəɾ aːzaːd̪]), also known as Chandrashekhar and Chandrashekhar Azad 'Ravan', is an Indian politician, social activist, Ambedkarite and lawyer. He is serving as a Member of Parliament of the 18th Lok Sabha from Nagina since June 2024. He is the chief and co-founder of the Bhim Army, and the National President of the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram). In February 2021, Time magazine featured him in its annual list of 100 Emerging Leaders who are Shaping the Future.
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Chandrashekhar Azad (politician)
Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan (born 5 December 1987; Hindi pronunciation: [t͡ʃən̪d̪ɾəʃeːkʰəɾ aːzaːd̪]), also known as Chandrashekhar and Chandrashekhar Azad 'Ravan', is an Indian politician, social activist, Ambedkarite and lawyer. He is serving as a Member of Parliament of the 18th Lok Sabha from Nagina since June 2024. He is the chief and co-founder of the Bhim Army, and the National President of the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram). In February 2021, Time magazine featured him in its annual list of 100 Emerging Leaders who are Shaping the Future.
Early life
Chandrashekhar Azad (politician)
Chandrashekhar Azad was born on 3 December 1986, village Chhutmalpur in Saharanpur, Western Uttar Pradesh. Growing up in a Dalit family, Azad experienced caste-based discrimination, which influenced his early interest in social justice and advocacy. His father, Govardhan Das, retired as a principal of a government school. Azad came to prominence as a Bahujan leader after he installed a hoarding titled The Great Chamars of Ghadkhauli Welcome You on the outskirts of his village. Chandra Shekhar Azad started free coaching classes for all categories and distributed free books for poor students to study.
Activism and politics
Chandrashekhar Azad (politician)
Azad, Satish Kumar, and Vinay Ratan Singh founded Bhim Army in 2014, an organisation that works for the emancipation of Dalits through education in India. It runs free schools for Dalits in western Uttar Pradesh.
In 2020, he founded the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram).
5656 UP legislative Assembly elections, he contested the Gorakhpur Urban Assembly constituency against Yogi Adityanath, with Azad getting 3.06% of the vote share.
In the 2024 Indian general election in Uttar Pradesh, Aazad Samaj Party (ASP) candidate Chandrashekhar Azad won the Nagina Lok Sabha constituency by 1,51,473 votes. He got 5,12,552 votes. BJP's Om Kumar came second, who got 3,61,079 votes.
Posts held
<table><thead><tr><th>#</th><th>From</th><th>To</th><th>Position</th><th>Party</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>4 June 2024</td><td>Incumbent</td><td>Member of Parliament, 18th Lok Sabha</td><td>ASP</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>14 August 2024</td><td>Incumbent</td><td>Member of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes</td><td>ASP</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>26 September 2024</td><td>Incumbent</td><td>Member of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs</td><td>ASP</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>15 March 2020</td><td>Incumbent</td><td>National President of the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram)</td><td>ASP</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
Imprisonment
Chandrashekhar Azad (politician)
Chandrashekhar Azad at Jama Masjid, Delhi, during the anti CAA protests.
• He was arrested in relation to the Saharanpur violence incident. Azad was arrested under the National Security Act by the Uttar Pradesh Government. Afterwards he was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court after his lawyer argued that the arrests were politically motivated.
• Delhi Police had denied permission to Chandrashekhar Azad's protest march against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act from Delhi Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar. He entered into protest at Jama Masjid and was arrested by Delhi police and detained for several days.
Election history
Lok Sabha
<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Constituency</th><th>Party</th><th>Votes</th><th>Opponent</th><th>Opponent party</th><th>Opponent votes</th><th>Result</th><th>Margin</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2024</td><td>Nagina</td><td></td><td>ASP(KR)</td><td>5,12,552</td><td>Om Kumar</td><td></td><td>BJP</td><td>3,61,079</td><td>Won</td><td>1,51,473</td></tr></tbody></table>
Member of Legislative Assembly (Uttar Pradesh)
<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Constituency</th><th>Party</th><th>Votes</th><th>Opponent</th><th>Opponent party</th><th>Opponent votes</th><th>Result</th><th>Margin</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2022</td><td>Gorakhpur Urban</td><td></td><td>ASP(KR)</td><td>7,640</td><td>Yogi Adityanath</td><td></td><td>BJP</td><td>1,65,499</td><td>Lost</td><td>1,57,859</td></tr></tbody></table>