Janata Party

After emergency in 1977 he became MLA from Chhabra as Janata Party candidate.^[6] In that year the Janata Party won 151 of the 200 seats in the state assembly elections of Rajasthan and Shekhawat took over as the first non Congress Chief Minister of Rajasthan in 1977. His government was dismissed by Indira Gandhi in 1980.^[6]

Bharatiya Janata Party

In 1980, Shekhawat joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and became MLA again from Chabda and was leader of opposition. In 1985, he was MLA from Nimbahera.^[9] However, in 1989 an alliance^[10] between the BJP and the Janata Dal won all 25 of the Rajasthan seats in the Lok Sabha and also 138^[11] seats (BJP:84+Janata Dal:54)^[11] in the 1990 elections to the Ninth^[11] Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. Shekhawat once again became Chief Minister of Rajasthan and was MLA from Dholpur.^[6] His government was dismissed in 1992 and President's rule imposed.^[6][11]

In the next elections, in 1993, Shekhawat led the BJP to be the single largest party, winning 96 seats. He himself contested from two seats, becoming MLA from Bali, but he lost from Ganganagar seat where he finished third and Congress candidate Radheshyam Ganganagar won. Three BJP-supported independents also won seats and other independents who supported the BJP took its total to 116. And Shekhawat became Chief Minister of Rajasthan for third time.^[6]

In 1998, Shekhawat was elected from Bali again but the BJP lost power and Shekhawat became Leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly.^[6] Shekhawat won every election to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, except in 1972 when he lost from Gandhi Nagar in Jaipur, and in Ganganagar he lost in 1993 and Congress leader Radheshyam Ganganagar won.^[12]

In the 1999 general elections, he had recommended the BJP to give Prem Singh Rathore from Hyderabad, a close friend a ticket from Maharajganj(now goshamahal)and helped him win his elections and established strong BJP presence in North Andhra Region. Shekhawat also helped Rathore in his daughters marriage by fixing the marriage with a relative.

Shekhawat was elected as the Vice-President of India in 2002, when he defeated the opposition candidate, Sushil Kumar Shinde by a margin of 149 votes out of the 750 votes polled.^[13]

In July 2007, Shekhawat fought the presidential election as an independent candidate backed by National Democratic Alliance as a popular presidential candidate next to A. P. J. Abdul Kalam; but lost to the United Progressive Alliance-Left backed candidate Pratibha Patil. He became the first vice-president to lose presidential election. Following this defeat, Shekhawat resigned from the post of vice-president on 21 July 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Against Sati Pratha

Shekhawat played the most crucial role in removing Sati (practice) from Rajasthan^[14] as a part of their culture, especially among Rajput community.^[15] At the time of 1987 when a 18 years old girl 'Roop Kanwar' was burnt as Sati,^[16] then the matter came in controversy. Then at that time without thinking about his votebank, he put a total ban on this practice.^[17][18]

Antyoday Yojna

Shekhawat started the "Antyoday Yojna" scheme, which was intended to uplift the poorest of the poor. The chairman of the World Bank, Robert McNamara, referred to him as the Rockefeller of India.^[19]

Powerful Administration

Shekhawat was also known for his control over bureaucracy and the police. He had involvement in policies designed to improve literacy and industrialisation in Rajasthan, as well as tourism centred on the themes of heritage, wildlife and villages. He was also lauded by both, national and international leaders for his historic conduct of the Rajya Sabha.^[20][21]