From heading central ministries to the grand old party in Rajasthan, CP Joshi has had important stints both at the national and state levels. He's currently serving as the Rajasthan Assembly Speaker, not to be confused with Chandra Prakash Joshi who heads the state BJP unit.
Congressman Mr Joshi had been a part of Rajasthan cabinet during 1998-2003. He also had brief stints as the railway minister, transport minister, and rural development minister in the second Manmohan Singh cabinet after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bhilwara in 2009.
His role as an Assembly Speaker came under spotlight during Sachin Pilot's rebellion that pushed the Ashok Gehlot government to the edge in 2020, with Mr Joshi even issuing disqualification notices against the rebels and approaching the Supreme Court to pursue his action.
He is an academician besides being a seasoned politician. He is a qualified lawyer who used to teach psychology in colleges in Udaipur. His first brush with politics was in 1973 when he was elected the students' union president at Mohanlal Sukhadia University.
Seven years later, he won his debut assembly election from his native town Nathdwara and has represented the constituency five times since. He also helmed the state party unit during 2003-2005.
In the Nathdwara contest, Mr Joshi faces the BJP's Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, a descendant of the celebrated Mewar king Maharana Pratap Singh.
In 2008, Mr Joshi had lost the seat by just one vote to his BJP rival even though his party won the elections and formed the government. In that election, he helmed the Congress's campaign committee. This election, he is the chairman of the manifesto committee.
Mr Joshi has also served as the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, currently headed by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot. In 2009, he had defeated former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and later his son Ruchir Modi in 2017 in RCA elections.
Election to the 200-seat Rajasthan assembly will be held in a single phase on November 25 and the votes will be counted on December 3.
In 2018, Mr Joshi had won from Nathdwara with a 51% vote share against the BJP's Mahesh Pratap Singh (41%). Then a Member of Parliament, he did not contest the 2013 election and served as the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee from 2013-18. In 2014, he lost the Lok Sabha election from the Jaipur (Rural) constituency.
In 2019, Mr Joshi was unanimously elected as the Assembly Speaker.
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