Rajesh Pilot

Rajesh Pilot (1945–2000) was an Indian politician and a minister in the Government of India. He belonged to the Indian National Congress party and represented the Dausa constituency in Lok Sabha.His original name was Rajesh Bidhuri.

Rajesh Pilot was born in Viadpura, a village in Ghaziabad District of Uttar Pradesh, to an armyman. His birthname was Rajeshwar Prasad Singh Bidhuri. He was brought up in the poor family of his uncle, in Delhi. Before joining politics, he served as a pilot in Indian Air Force, reaching the rank of Squadron Leader. Later, he adopted "Pilot" as his last name.

Rajesh Pilot resigned from his post of Squadron Leader to join politics, under the influence of his friend Rajiv Gandhi, who later became the Prime Minister of India. He emerged as a major Gurjar leader. In his first election as a candidate, Pilot defeated the former queen of Bharatpur. He sent Chandraswami to prison when he was the Internal Security Minister. Later, he lost the election for the post of the Congress president to Sitaram Kesri, but kept himself in the first line of Congress leaders.