Four-time CM who shaped modern Haryana
Widely acknowledged as the architect of modern Haryana, Bansi Lal led an eventful life. He has the distinction of becoming the youngest chief minister of a state at the age of 41 in 1968. He occupied the chief minister’s post four times during his political career, which included seven stints as MLA and five as MP, besides a Union minister multiple times.
Considered to be a part of the well-known Lal trio of Haryana politics, along with Devi Lal and Bhajan Lal, 'Loh Purush' (iron man) is remembered for his role in shaping a modern Haryana, despite his high-handedness and 'dictatorial' bent of mind.
Born on August 26, 1927, to Choudhary Mohar Singh and Vidya Devi at Golagarh in Bhiwani district, Bansi Lal was first elected to the Assembly in 1967 from Tosham (Bhiwani).
Electrification of Haryana, Maruti project, agriculture development and highway tourism were among his notable achievements, building a solid infrastructural foundation of the state. However, his 'authoritarian traits', especially towards his political opponents and critical media, put him in a different league.
Bansi Lal came to the national limelight during the imposition of the Emergency by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, in 1975. A confidant of Indira and her son Sanjay Gandhi, Bansi Lal was a part of the 'Emergency caucus'.
The role of this group for harsh measures adopted during the Emergency came under the sharp focus in the investigation of the Shah Commission of Inquiry after the Emergency.
Bansi Lal was the Defence Minister from December 21, 1975, to March 24, 1977, and a minister without portfolio in the Union Government from December 1, 1975, to December 20, 1975.
He lost from his pocket borough Bhiwani during the 1977 Lok Sabha elections due to the Janata wave. However, he staged a comeback during Rajiv Gandhi’s regime in 1984; first becoming the railways minister, and later, holding the transport portfolio.
In 1996, he floated his own party—Haryana Vikas Party—and formed the government in the state on the promise of imposition of prohibition, which proved to be a disaster in subsequent years.
In 2004, he returned to the Congress, helping it win the 2005 Assembly poll. Though he did not contest the elections, his sons—Ranbir Mahendra and Surender Singh—won the election. Surender Singh died in a helicopter crash near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on March 31, 2005.
Bansi Lal died in New Delhi on March 28, 2006, at the age of 78. His legacy continues to get rich dividends for his family, with his daughter-in-law Kiran Chaudhry being a Rajya Sabha MP and granddaughter a minister in the BJP government in Haryana.
