Rita Bahuguna Joshi is daughter of Late H. N. Bahuguna, former Chief Minister of U.P. Her mother, Late Kamla Bahuguna, was an ex-MP. She holds an MA and a PhD in History and is a professor in Medieval and Modern History at the University of Allahabad. She is also a recipient of a United Nations Award of Excellence as being among the "Most Distinguished Women Mayor in South Asia".[3] She authored two history books before joining the Indian National Congress. She was also a professor in Medieval and Modern History at the University of Allahabad.[4]
She joined BJP on 20-Oct-2016 in presence of BJP president Amit Shah after spending 24 years in Congress.[6]
Arrest
On 16 July 2009, she was detained for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.[7] She was later sent to the Moradabad jail on 14 days' judicial custody.[8]
Joshi's speech was about the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and the increasing number of rapes in the state. She cited a few cases in which some women were paid 25,000 rupees compensation after being raped. She remarked that simply compensating the women with money was not enough. Women who are raped should "throw the money at Mayawati's face and tell her 'you should also be raped and I will give you 10 million rupees" she said in the speech.
She was one of the party leaders arrested by the Meerut range police on 11 May 2011 from the Bhatta Parsaul village of western Uttar Pradesh along with the fellow leaders Rahul Gandhi and Digvijay Singh. They were taking part in an agitation staged by the local farmers condemning the state government policies. A top police officer of the range confirmed their detention to the media adding that they were about to produce the trio to a local court on the following working day.[9]
Mrs. Rita Bahuguna has worked in the favour of Indian women as the President of All India Mahila Congress from 2003 to 2008. She was involved in Women's Movement at the Grass-root level and organized several seminars, demonstrations etc. for women. She actively led the Movement for Reservation for Women in Local Bodies in U.P. in 1991–92. In her struggles to fight the injustices against women, she was jailed in 2009 for protesting against increased incidents of rape on women in U.P. Her efforts to relieve the plight of women in U.P. got her awarded the U.N. Award of Excellence as "Most Distinguished Women Mayor in South Asia" at Phitsanulok, Thailand in June in 2001.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi suffered a personal tragedy, during the Diwali festival, of 2020, when her six-year-old granddaughter, Kiya Joshi, daughter of her son Mayank, died in Prayagraj, after sustaining burns while playing with diyas.[10]
