Radha Raman Shastri is a former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh and Education Minister of Himachal Pradesh.

Shastri was born on 23 March 1943 at village Sunog in Tehsil Chopal in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. He started his career as Sanskrit teacher in Himachal Pradesh Education Department, served only for 8 years and was selected as lecturer for College Cadre but resigned to participate in social and political activities.

He established two periodicals namely " HIMBALA " monthly and " HIMYUVAK " weekly and edited successfully for 9 years. Digvijay Printing Press owned by him was raided during emergency by police 9 times and both the periodicals had to be stopped as these were being printed in his own Press.

During emergency in 1975, he was arrested under Maintenance of Indian Security Act (MISA) and remained in Central Jail Nahan with other most senior leaders for 19 months.

Award for social service

He was elected to Himachal Pradesh state assembly in 1977 immediately after the release from jail, and was made chairman of Himachal Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation, where he envisaged Master Plan to boost the tourism in the State. He was also president of Janta Party District Shimla immediately after its formation.

He remained as General Secretary of Bhartiya Janta Party, Himachal Pradesh continuously for 10 years w.e.f. 6 April 1980 to March 1990, and founded Snatan Dharm Degree College in the interiors of District Shimla at Nerwa (Chopal), which has been serving the people of this area by uplifting students educationally from weaker sections of different societies.

Again he was elected as a member of State Legislative Assembly in 1990 and was elected Speaker of HP State Assembly. After this he was given an opportunity of becoming Education Minister of Himachal Pradesh with 6 portfolios. He had the chance to visit many countries in the world and got opportunities to deliver lectures on different topics of Social, Educational and Political concerns. He participated in international seminars also.

He wrote two reference books namely " MAHASU KSHETRA KI LOK PARAMPRAYAIN " and " SITUATIONAL STUDY OF TRIBAL AREAS OF HIMACHAL PRADESH ". Now both the reference books are property of Government of India.

Electoral performance

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1990 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election : Chopal[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJP Radha Raman Shastri 17,124 69.56% New
INC Yogendra Chandra 7,027 28.55%  42.61
JP Kripa Ram Thakur Chopali 377 1.53% New
Margin of victory 10,097 41.02%  2.81
Turnout 24,616 67.81%  7.00
Registered electors 36,534  19.21
BJP gain from INC Swing
1977 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election : Chopal[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
JP Radha Raman Shastri 6,466 45.19% New
Independent Sant Ram 3,313 23.16% New
Independent Mangal Singh 1,901 13.29% New
Independent Sabla Ram 1,744 12.19% New
Independent Mangat Ram 307 2.15% New
Independent Shyam Singh 304 2.12% New
Independent Davinder Singh 251 1.75% New
Margin of victory 3,153 22.04%  50.71
Turnout 14,307 57.57%  13.35
Registered electors 25,210  3.63
JP gain from INC Swing  37.36
1972 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election : Chopal[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
INC Kewal Ram Chauhan 8,717 82.56%  34.56
Independent Shyam Singh 1,035 9.80% New
Independent Radha Raman Shastri 807 7.64% New
Margin of victory 7,682 72.75%  68.75
Turnout 10,559 44.24%  14.57
Registered electors 24,326  16.83
INC gain from Independent Swing  30.55

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speakers_of_the_Himachal_Pradesh_Legislative_Assembly

References

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  1. ^ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1990 to the Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (pdf) on 14 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1977 to the Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh" (PDF). Archived from the original (pdf) on 19 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1972 to the Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 10 February 2022.