Madan Lal Khurana Explained

Birth Date:15 October 1936
Birth Place:Lyallpur, Punjab, British India
(now Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan)
Death Place:New Delhi, India
Order:15th Governor of Rajasthan
Term Start:14 January 2004
Term End:1 November 2004
Predecessor:Kailashpati Mishra (additional charge)
Successor:T. V. Rajeswar (additional charge)
Office2:3rd Chief Minister of Delhi
Term Start2:2 December 1993
Term End2:26 February 1996
Predecessor2:President's rule
Successor2:Sahib Singh Verma
Office3:Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
Primeminister3:Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Term Start3:1998
Term End3:1999
Predecessor3:Srikant Kumar Jena
Office4:Minister of Tourism
Term Start4:1998
Term End4:1999
Primeminister4:Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Predecessor4:Srikant Kumar Jena
Office5:Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Term Start5:1998
Term End5:2004
Predecessor5:Vijay Goel
Successor5:Jagdish Tytler
Constituency5:Delhi Sadar
Term6:17 March 1983 – 30 November 1985
Nationality:Indian
Party:Bharatiya Janata Party
Alma Mater:Kirori Mal College, University of Allahabad
Footnotes:
  • State of Delhi ceased to exist, became a centrally administered union territory
Source:http://164.100.47.194/Loksabha/Members/MemberBioprofile.aspx?mpsno=199&lastls=13

Madan Lal Khurana (15 October 1936 – 27 October 2018) was an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Delhi from 1993 to 1996. He also served as Governor of Rajasthan in 2004. He was the Union Minister of Parliamentary affairs and Tourism in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.[1] [2] [3] He was a member of Rashtriya Swayansevak Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party.

Early life

Khurana was born on 15 October 1936 in Lyallpur, Punjab Province (British India) (now called Faisalabad in Punjab, Pakistan) to S. D. Khurana and Laxmi Devi.[4] Khurana was barely 12 when the family was forced to migrate to Delhi by India's partition and began to piece its life together again at a refugee colony Kirti Nagar in New Delhi.[5] He took his bachelor's degree from Kirori Mal College under Delhi University.[6]

Political career

As a student

Khurana had his training in politics at Allahabad University, where he was doing his post-graduation in economics.[5] He was general secretary of the Allahabad Students Union in 1959 and became general secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in 1960.[7]

Jan Sangh

As a youth, Khurana became a teacher with Vijay Kumar Malhotra, at PGDAV (evening) College before deciding to enter politics.[5] Madan Lal Khurana, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Kedar Nath Sahani and Kanwar Lal Gupta founded the Delhi chapter of the Jan Sangh, which in 1980 transformed into BJP. Khurana was the Jan Sangh's general secretary from 1965 to 1967. He dominated first Municipal Corporation politics and then the Metropolitan Council where he was the Chief Whip, Executive Councillor and Leader of the Opposition by turns.

Rise in BJP

BJP suffered badly in 1984 general elections, held after the death of Indira Gandhi. Khurana is credited with reviving the party in India's capital, New Delhi. He worked tirelessly, which earned him the title of 'Dilli Ka Sher' (Lion of Delhi).[8]

He was the Chief Minister of Delhi from 1993 until he resigned in 1996. The party declined to reinstate him and preferred staying with Sahib Singh Verma.

He along with Kedar Nath Sahani and Vijay Kumar Malhotra kept the party afloat in New Delhi for more than four decades spanning from 1960 to 2000.

The peak of his career saw him serve as the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism in the Vajpayee government, before resigning in January 1999, owing to a fallout with the senior leadership of the party following a series of attacks on Christians that were blamed on Hindu groups.[9] He also served as the governor of Rajasthan from 14 January 2004 to 28 October 2004, when he resigned to return to politics in Delhi after about half a dozen MLAs from Delhi went up to him in Jaipur Raj Bhawan requesting that he return to active politics.

On 20 August 2005, Khurana was removed from the BJP for indiscipline for publicly criticising BJP president Lal Krishna Advani and expressing inability and discomfort at serving with him. On 12 September 2005, he was taken back to the party and given back his responsibilities after he apologised about his remarks about the party's leadership.

On 19 March 2006, he was again expelled from the primary membership of the BJP for his anti-party statements. Khurana spoke against the party leadership when he announced that he would attend expelled Saffron Party leader Uma Bharti's rally in Delhi.[10] Khurana left the BJP, accusing it of not helping solve his cause as committed to giving weight to his mission of developing Delhi.

Criticism

In 1991, an arrest linked to militants in Kashmir led to a raid on hawala brokers, revealing evidence of large-scale payments to national politicians. Those accused included L. K. Advani, V. C. Shukla, P. Shiv Shankar, Sharad Yadav, Balram Jakhar, and Madan Lal Khurana. The prosecution that followed was partly prompted by a public interest petition (see Vineet Narain), and yet the court cases of the Hawala scandal eventually all collapsed without convictions. Many were acquitted in 1997 and 1998, partly because the hawala records (including diaries) were judged in court to be inadequate as the main evidence.[11] The Central Bureau of Investigation's role was criticised. In concluding the Vineet Narain case, the Supreme Court of India directed that the Central Vigilance Commission should be given a supervisory role over the CBI.[12]

Personal life

Khurana was married to Raj Khurana. Together they had four children. One of his sons, Vimal, died in August 2018.[13] Two months later, at 11 p.m. (IST) on 27 October 2018, Khurana died at his residence in Kirti Nagar, New Delhi, aged 82. He had a brain hemorrhage five years prior to his death and had been ailing since then.[14]

See also

References

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External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Ex-Delhi CM Khurana passes away at 83 . Business Standard. 28 October 2018 . 28 October 2018 .
  2. Web site: Madan Lal Khurana . . 28 December 2002 . 28 October 2018.
  3. Web site: Former Delhi CM Madan Lal Khurana passes away . . Alok K N Mishra . 28 October 2018 . 28 October 2018.
  4. Web site: Former Governor of Rajasthan. 26 October 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20180916022614/http://rajassembly.nic.in/MLKhurana.htm. 16 September 2018. dead.
  5. Web site: The Lion in Winter.
  6. http://www1.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/496455.cms{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  7. Web site: Madan Lal Khurana. Rediff.com. 2019-11-15.
  8. Web site: नहीं रहे मदनलाल खुराना: भाजपा जिन्हें 'दिल्ली का शेर' कहती थी . BBC News Hindi . 28 October 2018 . 28 October 2018.
  9. News: Indian minister resigns. 10 March 2018. BBC. 30 January 1999.
  10. News: Another suspension as Khurana goes Uma's way . The Times of India . 19 March 2006.
  11. Sudha Mahalingam. Jain Hawala Case: Diaries as evidence. Frontline Magazine. 15. 6. 21 March – 3 April 1998. 2 November 2006. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070310210202/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1506/15060270.htm. 10 March 2007.
  12. Web site: Vineet Narain Case, Directions of the Court . 2 November 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070402221106/http://cbi.nic.in/Judgements/dsc.htm . 2 April 2007.
  13. News: Madan Lal Khurana's son passes away . 28 October 2018 . The Hindu . 18 August 2018 . en-IN.
  14. News: Former Delhi CM Madan Lal Khurana passes away at 82 . 28 October 2018 . Mint . 28 October 2018.