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Who is Rita Bahuguna Joshi?
Rita Bahuguna Joshi is an Indian politician, daughter of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and Kamala Bahuguna, who was a former member of Parliament. She is the Lok Sabha MP from Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
Life and education
Rita Bahuguna Joshi was born on July 22, 1949, in Uttarakhand. She has an MA and a PhD in History and is a professor of Medieval and Modern History at Allahabad University. She is married to Puran Chandra Joshi and the couple has a son, Mayank Joshi. The BJP MP has two brothers Vijay Bahuguna, who is a former CM of Uttarakhand, and Shekhar Bahuguna.
Career
Joshi began her political journey in 1985 as a member of the Samajwadi Party (SP) when she managed to win a mayoral election, but later joined the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1992. She held the post of Mayor of Allahabad from 1995 to 2000. She also served as the chief of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee for five years (2007 to 2012). Joshi had led the party from Lucknow (Cantonment) constituency in the 2012 assembly polls in UP. She joined BJP in October 2016 after her 24 years' stint in Congress.
The politician was the Vice President of All India Mahila Congress from 2003 to 2008.
Before joining the Congress, Joshi wrote two history books and was also conferred with the United Nations Award of Excellence as being among the "Most Distinguished Women Mayor in South Asia" in Thailand in June 2001.
She was arrested on July 16, 2009, for allegedly making derogatory remarks about UP CM Mayawati and was later sent to 14 days' judicial custody.