{{Short description|Indian politician (born 1975)}} {{Use Indian English|date=October 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Shruti Choudhry | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1975|10|03}} | birth_place = New Delhi, Delhi, India | death_date = | death_place = | office = Cabinet Minister in Haryana | predecessor = | successor = | governor = Bandaru Dattatreya<br>Ashim Kumar Ghosh | 1blankname = Chief Minister | 1namedata = Nayab Singh Saini | 2blankname = Ministry and Departments | 2namedata = *Women & Child Development *Irrigation & Water Resources | term_start = 17 October 2024 | office2 = Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | constituency2 = Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, Haryana | term2 = 2009–2014 | predecessor2 = Kuldeep Bishnoi<ref name="tribune" /> | successor2 = Dharambir Singh Chaudhary | office1 = Member of Haryana Legislative Assembly | term_start1 = 8 October 2024 | term_end1 = | constituency1 = Tosham | predecessor1 = Kiran Choudhry | successor1 = | party = Bharatiya Janata Party (since 2024) <ref name="NDTV2024">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/kiran-choudhary-joins-bjp-ex-congress-mp-shruti-choudhary-joins-bjp-bjp-signs-up-4-time-ex-congress-mla-kiran-choudhary-secures-key-sweep-5922833 |title=Ahead Of Poll, BJP Now Has Members From Haryana's 3 Big Political Families |website=NDTV}}</ref> | other_party = Indian National Congress (2005–2024) | spouse = Arunabh Choudhry | father = Surender Singh | mother = Kiran Choudhry | children = | website = | footnotes = | date = 2 June | year = 2009 }}
'''Shruti Choudhry''' (born 3 October 1975) is an Indian politician from Haryana belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party.<ref name="BT2024">{{Cite web |url=https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/setback-for-congress-in-haryana-mla-kiran-choudhry-her-daughter-join-bjp-433809-2024-06-19 |title=Setback for Congress in Haryana- MLA Kiran Choudhry, her daughter join BJP |website=business today |date=19 June 2024}}</ref> Since October 2024, she has been serving as a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Haryana after being elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Tosham Assembly constituency.<ref name="ET-Oct-2024">{{cite news |title=Tosham assembly election results 2024: BJP's Shruti Choudhry defeats cousin and Cong candidate by 14K votes|work=The Economic Times |date=10 October 2024 |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/entertainment/heir-conditioned/article1-669461.aspx |access-date=10 October 2024}}</ref><ref name="A look at Haryana’s 40 first-time MLAs">{{cite news |date=2 December 2024 |title=A look at Haryana's 40 first-time MLAs |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/haryana-first-time-mlas-9702131/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250704171938/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/haryana-first-time-mlas-9702131/ |archivedate=4 July 2025 |accessdate=4 July 2025 |publisher=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>
Choudhry is the granddaughter of the former Chief Minister of Haryana, Bansi Lal.<ref name="bio">{{cite web |title=Detailed Profile: Smt. Shruti Choudhry |url=http://www.archive.india.gov.in/govt/loksabhampbiodata.php?mpcode=4254 |publisher=National Informatics Centre |location=India |access-date=3 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503190047/http://www.archive.india.gov.in/govt/loksabhampbiodata.php?mpcode=4254|archive-date=3 May 2014}}</ref> From 2005 to 2024, she was a member of the Indian National Congress and represented Bhiwani-Mahendragarh (Lok Sabha constituency) in the Indian Parliament from 2009 to 2014.<ref name="ht" />
== Early life == Shruti Choudhry was born in New Delhi on 3 October 1975.<ref name="bio" /> Her parents were Surender Singh and Kiran Choudhry, both of whom had served as ministers in the government of Haryana. Her paternal grandfather was the former Chief minister of Haryana, Bansi Lal and her family is among the major Political families of Haryana.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="ht">{{cite news |title=Heir conditioned |first=Tashneem |last=Chaudhury |work=Hindustan Times |date=4 March 2011 |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/entertainment/heir-conditioned/article1-669461.aspx |access-date=3 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503192125/http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/entertainment/heir-conditioned/article1-669461.aspx |archive-date=3 May 2014}}</ref> Her family belongs to the Jat community.<ref name="IEJun24">{{cite news |title=Decode Politics: How Congress veteran Kiran Choudhry's switch to BJP may play out in Haryana ahead of polls |date=20 June 2012 |work=Indian Express |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/decode-politics-congress-veteran-kiran-choudhrys-switch-bjp-play-out-haryana-polls-9402784/ |access-date=24 June 2024}}</ref>
Choudhry's early education was at the Convent of Jesus & Mary school and Delhi Public School, R K Puram, after which she studied in Oxford, England. She earned a B.A. from the University of Delhi and then a LL.B. from B. R. Ambedkar University in Agra. On 7 March 2003, she married Arunabh Choudhry, a lawyer.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="ht" />
== Political career == At first practising as a lawyer, Choudhry turned to politics following the death of her father in 2005. Choudhry was chosen by the Indian National Congress party to contest the 2009 Indian general election in the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh constituency of the Lok Sabha. Mainly as a consequence of the goodwill that existed for her family in the area,<ref name="ht" /> she defeated her nearest rival, Ajay Singh Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal, by a margin of 55,097 votes. Her grandfather had previously won the same seat three times, and her father had done so twice.<ref name="tribune" /> During her tenure as a member of Parliament (2009-2014), Choudhry served on the Lok Sabha committees for agriculture and empowerment of women from 2009.<ref name="bio" /> She did not win re-election to the Lok Sabha seat in 2014.<ref name="tribune">{{cite news |title=Battle lines drawn for multi-cornered contest |first=Ravinder |last=Saini |date=19 March 2014 |work=The Tribune |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140320/vote.htm#1 |access-date=4 May 2014}}</ref>
In the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, the Congress fielded a Hooda loyalist, Rao Dan Singh, instead of Shruti Choudhry from the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat.<ref>{{cite news |title=Haryana Congress leader Kiran Choudhry, daughter Shruti quit party, to join BJP |date=19 June 2012 |work=Indian Express |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/haryana-congress-leader-kiran-choudhry-bjp-9400178/ |access-date=23 June 2024}}</ref> In June 2024, she and her mother, Kiran Choudhry, quit the Congress party due to the growing differences with the party leader and ex-Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.<ref name="NDTV2024" /> Subsequently, both of them joined the BJP on 19 June 2024, in the presence of several state BJP leaders including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and former CM Manohar Lal Khattar.<ref name="BT2024" />
After joining BJP, Choudhry said that she was inspired by Prime Minister Modi, who has made "India's name shine across the world," and that earlier Modi and Khattar had also worked along with Chaudhary Bansi Lal.<ref>{{cite news |title= Kiran Choudhry's first reaction after joining BJP |date=19 June 2012 |work=Indian Express |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/kiran-choudhrys-first-reaction-after-joining-bjp-resigned-from-haryana-congress-because-shruti-choudhry-101718778107847.html |access-date=24 June 2024}}</ref> There were mixed reactions from the Congress party over Choudhry and her mother's exit, where some leaders called it a loss for the party,<ref>{{cite news |title= Ex-Haryana Congress leader Kiran Choudhry and daughter join BJP |date=19 June 2012 |work=Indian Express|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/kiran-choudhry-ex-haryana-congress-leader-daughter-shruti-bjp-assembly-election-2555119-2024-06-19|access-date=23 June 2024}}</ref> while others asserted that it won't make any difference.<ref>{{cite news |title= Haryana: Hisar Congress MP comes under fire over 'remarks on women' |date=23 June 2012 |work=Hindustan Times|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/haryana-hisar-congress-mp-comes-under-fire-over-remarks-on-women-101719084692268.html|access-date=23 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Congress should expel Jai Prakash for anti-women remarks, says Kiran |date=23 June 2012 |work=The Tribune|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/congress-should-expel-jai-prakash-for-anti-women-remarks-says-kiran-633273|access-date=23 June 2024}}</ref> According to political analysts, Choudhry's induction may help BJP's standing among the Jat community while also expanding its base in the Bhiwani region.<ref name="IEJun24" />
In October 2024, Shruti Choudhry won from the Tosham Assembly constituency in the 2024 Haryana assembly elections by defeating the Congress candidate by 14257 votes.<ref name="ET-Oct-2024" />
==See also==
* Political families of Haryana * Politics of Haryana
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *[http://www.archive.india.gov.in/govt/loksabhampbiodata.php?mpcode=4254 Lok Sabha biographical data]
{{15th LS members from Haryana}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhry, Shruti}} Category:India MPs 2009–2014 Category:People from Bhiwani Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Lok Sabha members from Haryana Category:Women in Haryana politics Category:United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Category:Delhi University alumni Category:Delhi Public School alumni Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Haryana Category:21st-century Indian women politicians Category:Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Haryana Category:Haryana MLAs 2024–2029 Category:Women members of the Haryana Legislative Assembly