C P Joshi becomes Railway Minister

     New Delhi, September 25, 2012: Dr Chandra Prakash Joshi has taken over charges as the Railway Minister after Mukul Roy of Trinamool Congress quit the cabinet protesting the decision of the Central cabinet to allow foreign direct investment in retail sector in the country.

     Minister for Road Transport & Highways Dr Chandra Prakash Joshi has taken over additional charge of the Ministry of Railways here yesterday, Government sources said.

     Joshi represents Bhilwara Lok Sabha Constituency in Rajasthan. He had previously held the portfolio of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj in the Union Ministry.

     An academician by profession with two Masters Degrees each in Physics and Psychology, Ph.D in Psychology as well as a qualified lawyer, Joshi started his career as a lecturer at the M B College, Udaipur in Rajasthan.

     Joshi had his first brush with politics in 1973 when he was elected the president of students’ union at the Mohanlal Sukhadia University, the same university where he later became a professor of Psychology.

     In 1980 he was elected to the Rajasthan State Legislative Assembly from Nathdwara constituency. He represented the same segment for the next four terms. He became a Minister in Rajasthan Government and handled portfolios of Panchayati Raj, Education, Rural Development, Public Health Engineering, Planning and Information Technology.

     He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 from Bhilwara constituency in Rajasthan.