Bansi Lal Biography: Birthday, Early Life, Career, Awards, Death

Bansi Lal Biography: Bansi Lal Legha (26 August 1927 – 28 March 2006) was an Indian independence activist, senior Congress leader, former Haryana chief minister, former Indian defence minister, and architect of modern Haryana. Bansi Lal was a member of the prominent political families of Haryana, the Lal family, which also included ‘Tau’ Devi Lal and Bhajan Lal.

Lal was elected seven times to the Haryana State Assembly, beginning in 1967 in Tosham. He served as Chief Minister of Haryana for three separate terms: 1968–1975, 1986–1987, and 1996–1999. During the Emergency period of 1975-1977, Bansi Lal was considered a close confidant of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi.

In 2005, his younger son perished at age 59.

From December 1975 to March 1977, he served as the Defence Minister of India. In 1975, he also served briefly as a Minister without Portfolio in the Union government. He also held the Transportation and Railways portfolios.

He founded the Haryana Vikas Party in 1996 after leaving the Indian National Congress. He aided the Congress win the 2005 Assembly elections with his 2004 return to Congress.

Bansi Lal Biography

Name:	Bansi Lal Legha
Birth Date:	26 August 1927
Place Of Birth:	Golagarh
Death:	28 March 2006

 

Bansi Lal Early years

On 26 August 1927, he was born to Choudhary Mohar Singh and Shrimati Vidya Devi, members of the Hindu Jat community, in the village of Golagarh, British Punjab (now Haryana). Lal had two sons, Surendra Singh and Ranbir Singh Mahendra, after his marriage.

Education

Bansi Lal earned a Bachelor of Arts in the humanities, followed by a Juris Doctor from the Punjab University Law College in Jalandhar.

Bansi Lal Profession

• From 1943 to 1944, Lal served as secretary of Parja mandal in the Loharu State.
• From 1957 to 1958, Lal served as president of the Bar Association of Bhiwani. From 1959 to 1962, he served as president of the Hisar District Congress Committee before joining the Congress Working Committee and Congress Parliamentary Board.
• Between 1958 and 1962, he was a member of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.
• From 1968 to 1975 (Congress), 1985 to 1987 (Congress), and 1996 to 1999 (Haryana Vikas Party), he served as the Chief Minister of Haryana.
  He served as India’s Defence Minister from December 1975 to March 1977.
• In addition, he presided over the Committee of Parliament and Committee on Public Undertakings from 1980 to 1982, as well as the Committee on Estimates from 1982 to 1984.
  On December 31, 1984, in Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet, he was appointed India’s Minister of Railways and, later, Minister of Transport.
• From Tosham, he was elected to the Haryana State Assembly five times (1967, 1972, 1986 bye-election, 1991, and 1996). A few months after gaining the seat with more than 80,000 votes in 1986, he was defeated by Tosham in the 1987 Devi Lal wave.
• He served in the Rajya Sabha from 1960 to 1966 and from 1976 to 1980. He represented Bhiwani in the Lok Sabha three times, from 1980 to 1984, 1985 to 1986, and 1989 to 1991. In 1977, he lost in Bhiwani owing to the Janata wave.
• After leaving the Congress in 1996, Bansi Lal founded the Haryana Vikas Party, and his anti-prohibition campaign propelled him to power in the assembly elections that same year.
• In chronological order: Rajya Sabha MP (1960–1966), Haryana MLA (1967–1975), Rajya Sabha (1976–1980, but lost Bhiwani Lok Sabha election in 1977), Lok Sabha MP (1980–1984, 1984–1986), Haryana MLA (1986–1987), lost assembly election in 1987, Rajya Sabha MP (1989–1991), Haryana MLA (1991–1996), and Haryana MLA (1996–2000).
• Bansi Lal, who served as the third chief minister of Haryana, was elected four times between 1968 and 1996. He was the youngest at the time and was responsible for electrifying every village in Haryana and introducing the concept of highway tourism. Lal was notorious for his authoritarian rule, during which he imprisoned over 143,000 individuals, and he detested journalists and the press. He also subdued the press, including the Tribune in Chandigarh, which was critical of him.
• Lal was a confidant of Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi and a member of the Emergency Caucus during the Emergency in 1975. He served as minister of defence from 21 December 1975 to 24 March 1977, and minister without portfolio from 1 December 1975 to 20 December 1975. According to the Shah Commission of Inquiry, Lal frequently abused his official position for personal gain.
• In 1971, Bansi Lal was also among the first chief ministers to visit Israel. His authoritarian reign included the arrest of the Bhiwani-based newspaper Chetna and the eviction of 15,000 farmers.

Bansi Lal Death

Lal passed away on March 28, 2006 in New Delhi at the age of 78. He had been ill for an extended period of time.

Awards and recognition

In 1972, he was awarded honorary degrees of Doctor of Law and Doctor of Science from Kurukshetra University and Haryana Agricultural University, respectively.