Voice of Medical Profession in Parliament: Dr Raj Bhushan Chaudhary, MoS Jal Shakti in Modi Cabinet 3.0

New Delhi: Appointed as the Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Jal Shakti through Lok Sabha Elections 2024, a stalwart medical professional, Dr Raj Bhushan Chaudhary is making waves in the Modi Ministry 3.0.

Dr Raj Bhushan Chaudhary pursued his MBBS at Patliputra Medical College in Dhanbad. Then further in his academic journey, he completed his MD Medicine degree from Darbhanga Medical College. After this, he served as a senior resident at Darbhanga Medical College, and later as a teacher in Santosh Medical College of Ghaziabad.

Before joining the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the year 2022, he was associated with Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).

Dr Raj Bhushan Chaudhary came into the political limelight for the first time by contesting from Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha constituency in 2019. He contested this election on the ticket of Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). However, BJP's Ajay Nishad defeated him by the highest margin of more than 4 lakh votes in Bihar.

Around 2 years later, he joined the BJP and soon he was appointed as the state vice-president of the organization. He then contested this year's Lok Sabha elections, which concluded in June and became a first-time Member of Parliament (MP). He won from the Muzaffarpur seat on the BJP ticket by a margin of massive 2,34,927 votes.

According to the election affidavit filed with the Election Commission of India (ECI), and as analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) for the Lok Sabha elections 2024, his total declared assets are Rs 16.7 crore which includes Rs 4.5 crore in movable assets and Rs 12.2 crore in immovable assets. His total declared income is Rs 1 crore of which Rs 35.9 lakh is self-income with total liabilities of Rs 5.5 crore. He is one of the MPs who have no criminal cases registered against him.

With his educational background and commendable work in the political field, he was appointed as the MoS Jal Shakti. The President of India, Droupadi Murmu administered the oath as Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti in the third Narendra Modi Ministry to Dr Raj Bhushan Choudhary at a Swearing-in Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on June 09, 2024.

On 14.06.2019, the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation was renamed as Ministry of Jal Shakti/Jal Shakti Mantralaya with two Departments i.e. Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (Jal Sansadhan, Nadi Vikas Aur Ganga Sanrakshan Vibhag) and Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (Peya Jal Aur SwachhataVibhag)

The Ministry of Jal Shakti is headed by Union Minister Shri C R Paatil, Dr Raj Bhushan Chaudhary and Shri V. Somanna are MoS Jal Shakti.