O. P. Dhankar

Om Prakash Dhankhar
Constituency	Rohtak Lok Sabha and Badali in Haryana Vidhan Sabha
Personal details
Born	(1961-04-18) 18 April 1961 Dhakla village, Jhajjar district, Haryana) India
Political party	Bhartiya Janta Party
Children	2 sons
Residence	Jhajjar
Alma mater	Maharishi Dayanand University
Occupation	Politician
Website	www.opdhankhar.in

Om Prakash Dhankhar (O P Dhankhar) (born - 1961) is an Indian politician and social activist, belonging to the Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP). He is BJP’s candidate from Badali constituency in the 2014 Haryana Assembly Election. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, he contested as the BJP candidate from the Rohtak constituency and gave a tough competition by finishing second, with 319436 votes (31%%). He is national coordinator for the Mr Narender Modi’s dream project-‘Statue of Unity’. O P Dhankhar has been twice elected as BJP’s Kisan Morcha President.

Academics

Shri Om Prakash Dhankhar did his elementary education from the village school before earning his Masters & M. Ed. from the Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak. Post qualification, he served as a Geography lecturer at Bhivani for 11 years. As an academician, he published a book on analysis of education sector; the book lists his insightful views on education reforms and issues concerning student lives.

Early Life

O P Dhankhar was born in Village Dhakla, Jhajjar district in the year of 1961 in the family of Vaid Mohabbat Singh and Smt Chhoto Devi. His grandfather Sh Raghuvir Singh worked as a Station Master with Indian Railways. Philanthropic credentials of his family date back to his great grandfather who mobilized efforts to build first school in his native village.

Social Work

He has been associated with RSS since 1978 as a Swayamsevak. In his words, he was driven by a mission and zeal to work for social causes and issues affecting youth and thus he worked for Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Prishad from 1980 to 1996. He was part of various socio political movements and worked for youth affairs concerning systemic change in education sector. Later, he joined Swadeshi Jagran Manch movement. To establish his credentials as a keen observer of life and dynamics of a civilized society, Mr Dhankhar delivered a rendition on Emotions Management.

Given the skewed sex ratio in Haryana and increasing instance of illegal trafficking of bihari brides by haryanavi males, O P Dhankhar advised a social solution and measured approach to resolve issues by developing bonds between Haryanvi and Bihari families through government intervention. This solution also courted controversy and there were opposing voices from Bihar leaders like [Lalu Yadav]] & Sharad Yadav. However, Sushil Modi supported O P Dhankhar on this issue.

Om Prakash Dhankhar on Indian Political Scene

In his political association spanning over 30 years now, Om Prakash Dhankhar is known for his cherubic smile, pleasant demeanor, and an oratory combined with natural ability to connect with people. He was born in a rural family and routinely mentioned that there is a special concern in his hear forr issues related to rustic life, culture and rural folks, youths and farmers.

Om Prakash Dhankhar got elected as National President of BJP’s Kisan Morcha twice in a row and thus is known to have demonstrated his popularity among the people of all hues and social segments especially farming community.  As national president of BJP’s Kisan Morcha, O P Dhankhar worked & fought for a range of key issues namely Land Acquisition, Pesticide Management, Farmer’s Suicide, Farming Reforms. Swaminathan Report Implementation etc etc.

O P Dhankhar played a key role in bringing about a Land Acquisition Handbook which addresses issues of farmers and industry alike by allowing enough opportunity for industrial growth.

During his three decades of alliance with BJP and its affiliates, O P Dhankhar conceptualized and steered many innovative campaigns related to campaigning and social activisim. His innovative ideas and organization capabilities captured the imagination of top BJP leaders like Shri Narendra Modi, Shri Rajnath Singh, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Smt Sushma Swaraj, Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Dr. Raman Singh and Shri Murli Manohar Joshi. During Jhajjar Lok Sabha rally in April, Shri Narender Modi has reportedly called O P Dhankhar as his close confidant and dedicated political leader who has effortlessly worked for last 30 years.

In 2014, he contested from Rohtak Parliamentary constituency against the son of Chief Minister, Haryana, Deepender Hooda . The contest created a major political furore, as O P Dhankhar finished second with 319436 votes (31%%) and the Indian National Lok Dal candidate finished a poor third. He has held key positions such as State General Secretary, State President, National Secretary, and National President in various BJP & its affiliate organizations. After eighteen years of association with RSS, in 1996 he joined BJP and performed duties as a national secretary during Vajpayee era. He was Pradesh Prabhari for Himachal and greatly contributed to BJP government formation in the hilly state.

He has held various padyatras and cycle yatras to agitate and protest against meager compensation and arbitrary land acquisition for SEZ. BJP Kisan Morcha has been demanding for implementation of recommendation of MS Swaminathan Commission, whereby 50 per cent profit on input cost should be given to farmers. BJP had even promised in its election manifesto to implement Swaminathan Commission recommendation.

Shri Om Prakash Dhankhar is a front runner claimant for the leadership position in the eventuality of BJP forming a government in Haryana in 2014 Assembly Elections. He led one of the legs of the four Vijay Sankalp Yatras organized by BJP for 2014 Haryana Assembly Elections.

His Other Notable Contributions

O P Dhankhar is National Coordinator, Statue Of Unity, Iron Collection Corporation Committee. Statue of Unity, Mr Narender Modi’s dream project is touted to be the largest statue and an architectural marvel in the world. Iron and soil for the 182 mts tall statue of Sardar Patel, which will come up near the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River, is being collected from farmers from across the country, thus making iron collection drive for the Statue Of Unity a nationwide socio cultural movement. Shri Narender Modi assigned Mr Dhankhar a key role as a the National Co-ordinator , Statue Of Unity, Iron Collection Corporation Committee.