Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (23 October 1923 – 15 May 2010) was an Indian politician who served as the vice president of India.

He was born in 1923 to a Rajput family[1][2][3][4] in the village of Khachriyawas, then in Sikar district, Rajputana Agency, British India.

[7] After working in Police Department for few years he saw his interest in the politics and joined Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1950.

In the year 1952, he resigned from the position of Police Inspector to contest Elections in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.

[10][11] He remains the only Non-Congress politician to be the Chief minister of Rajasthan 3 times[8] and was the first Vice President of India from BJP.

[10] In 1980, Shekhawat joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and became MLA again from Chabda and was leader of opposition.

[16] In the 1999 general elections, he had recommended the BJP to give Prem Singh Rathore from Hyderabad, a close friend a ticket from Maharajganj (now goshamahal) and helped him win his elections and established strong BJP presence in North Andhra Region.

[citation needed] Shekhawat played the most crucial role in removing Sati (practice) from Rajasthan[18] as a part of their culture, especially among Rajput community, to which he belonged.

He had involvement in policies designed to improve literacy and industrialisation in Rajasthan, as well as tourism centred on the themes of heritage, wildlife and villages.

[26] His wife, Suraj Kanwar (1927–2013), died on 9 March 2013 at the age of 86, after outliving her husband by two to three years and was cremated at Shekhawat's memorial as per her last wish.