In 1993, Vardhan was elected as a member of the Delhi Assembly representing Krishna Nagar.[7] He was appointed as the State Minister of Health and Minister of Law for Delhi.[8] He later became the state Minister of Education in 1996.[9] He has been re-elected from the same constituency in the 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013 elections.[10][11][12][13]
Minister of Health and Family Affairs of Delhi
Vardhan as the State Minister of Health in 1994 oversaw the implementation of the pilot project of the Pulse Polio Programme which involved the mass immunisation of 1 million children up to the age of 3 in Delhi.[14] In 1995, this programme was launched nationwide leading to 88 million children being immunised.[15] On 28 March 2014, India was declared polio-free by the WHO, as there had been no reported cases for three years.[16]
In 1997, the Delhi Prohibition of Smoking and Non-Smokers Health Protection Act was passed in the Delhi assembly which was one of the first anti-tobacco laws implemented by any state government.[17] The act applied across the NCT of Delhi. It prohibited smoking in places of public work or use for example hospitals, restaurants, and educational institutions and in public service vehicles. It also prohibited the sale of smoking substances such as tobacco and beedis to anyone below the age of eighteen. Smoking products could not also be sold or stored within 100 metres of any educational institution. Under the provisions of the act, fines would be applied to anyone who contravened the law and they could potentially be ejected from places of public use by the police.[18]
2013 Delhi Assembly elections
On 23 October 2013, Vardhan was named the Chief Minister candidate for Delhi Assembly elections by the BJP.[19] After the 2013 elections, BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 31 out of the 70 seats in the Fifth Legislative Assembly of Delhi. However, they fell short of an absolute majority so were unable to form the government.[20]
Vardhan again contested the Chandni Chowk seat in Delhi where he defeated Congress candidate Jai Parkash Aggarwal by a margin of 2,28,145 votes. While he received 52.94% votes, runner-up Aggarwal polled 29.67% votes.[25]
As Union Minister
This section is missing information about Vardhan's role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.(June 2021)
Vardhan taking charge as the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare on 3 June 2019.Dr. Vardhan visiting the Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan Hospital to take stock of preparedness to overcome COVID-19, in New Delhi on 4 April 2020.Dr. Vardhan visiting the GTB Hospital, Shahdara, Delhi, to review the preparedness to overcome COVID-19, in New Delhi on 2 January 2021.
On 30 May 2019, Vardhan was sworn in as a cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term government. He is put in charge of the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences.[26][27]
Vardhan has been prominent in this role during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. In February 2021, he endorsed an unproven "herbal cure" for COVID-19 devised by a company run by yoga guru Ramdev, prompting criticism from health experts.[28] In early March 2021, he declared the country was in the "endgame" of the pandemic, shortly before infections across the country rose dramatically in its second wave in April.[3]
Vardhan as a cabinet minister in Narendra Modi government, declared reservation for academic calendar 2020–2021 in MBBS and BDS colleges for the children of COVID-19 workers who died during COVID-19 pandemic in India.[29][clarification needed]
As a part of Cabinet Reshuffle on 7 July 2021, Harshvardhan resigned from his post of Union Health Minister after holding its two years of office.[30]
Controversies
At the 105th Indian Science Congress in March 2018, after the death of legendary British scientist Stephen Hawking, Vardhan claimed that Hawking had said that the Vedas postulated a theory superior to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, despite the fact that there is no record of Hawking having made the statement.[31][32][33]
In 2019, after the Health Effects Institute released a scientific report estimating 1.2 million annual deaths in India due to air pollution, Vardhan denied the results, arguing that this report was intended to create panic[34] In 2021, Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest association of doctors in India, issued a statement which it objected to Vardhan who was endorsing Coronil, a product of Patanjali Ayurved.[35] IMA questioned the ethics of a health minister of the country to release a fabricated and unscientific product to the people of the country.[36]
In 2023, a legislator from ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made Islamophobic remarks and used communal slurs against a Muslim MP inside the parliament. During a Thursday night debate on 22 September 2023 on the success of India's historic moon mission, BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri called Kunwar Danish Ali of the opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) a "terrorist" and a "pimp" among other anti-Islamic slurs.[37] Dr Harsh Vardhan came under attack after a video footage of the incident went viral on social media. In the video clip, he was seen sitting behind Ramesh Bidhuri and appeared to be laughing.[38][39]
Awards and honours
Vardhan has received the following awards and recognitions:[40]
^Shishir Gupta (19 May 2020). "Harsh Vardhan is India's nominee for lead role in WHO, takes over on Friday". The Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 May 2020. The WHO, a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health, is currently at the forefront of global efforts towards containing the novel coronavirus pandemic. Health minister Harsh Vardhan will have to work closely with Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. —"Dr Harsh Vardhan set to become chairman of WHO Executive Board on May 22". It may be noted that Dr. Harsh Vardhan's taking over of the post in just a formality as it was decided last year that India's nominee would be elected to the executive board for a three-year term in May 2020. The post is held by rotation for one year among regional groups. Further, the post is not a full-time assignment and Dr. Harsh Vardhan will only chair the board's meetings.
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