Thakur Ram Lal Explained

Thakur Ram Lal
Birth Date:7 July 1929
Birth Place:Simla, Punjab, British India
Residence:Shimla
Death Place:Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
Occupation:Politician
Nationality:Indian
Party:Indian National Congress
Office2:Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
Governor2:Amin ud-din Ahmad Khan
A. K. Banerjee
Governor3:S. Chakravarti
Amin ud-din Ahmad Khan
Term Start3:28 January 1977
Term End3:30 April 1977
Predecessor3:Yashwant Singh Parmar
Successor3:President's Rule
Term Start2:14 February 1980
Term End2:7 April 1983
Predecessor2:Shanta Kumar
Successor2:Virbhadra Singh
Office1:12th Governor of Andhra Pradesh
Term Start1:15 August 1983
Term End1:29 August 1984
Predecessor1:K. C. Abraham
Successor1:Shankar Dayal Sharma
1Blankname1:Chief Minister
1Namedata1:N. T. Rama Rao
N. Bhaskara Rao

Thakur Ram Lal (7 July 1929 – 6 July 2002) was an Indian politician and a leader of the Indian National Congress from Himachal Pradesh.

Political career

Himachal Pradesh

He was elected to the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha from the Jubbal-Kotkhai constituency in nine times from 1957 to 1982. He briefly served as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh from 28 January 1977 to 30 April 1977. In the 1977 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, he withstood the anti-Congress wave in elections conducted after The Emergency to win 60.2 percent of the votes in Jubbal-Kotkhai but saw the Congress reduced to 9 seats from the previous 53.[1] He served as the leader of opposition in the legislative assembly from 29 June 1977 to 13 February 1980.

He again became the Chief Minister on 14 February 1980 and remained in office till 7 April 1983.[2] He was forced to resign as chief minister in the aftermath of his son Jagdish Thakur's conviction for timber smuggling in January 1983. Lal's government was accused of soft pedalling against a large-scale illegal lumbering operation run by Jagdish Thakur and Mast Ram Taunta. The Himachal Pradesh state Enforcement Directorate and Himachal Pradesh Police registered more 700 cases of timber smuggling worth over Rs 90 lakh until 31 March 1983.[3] [4]

Governor of Andhra Pradesh

Ram Lal was appointed the Governor of Andhra Pradesh on 15 August 1983. While Chief Minister N. T. Rama Rao of the Telugu Desam Party was in the United States for surgery, he appointed finance minister N. Bhaskara Rao as the chief minister ostensibly at the behest of the leadership of the Congress party despite Bhaskara Rao having the support of no more than 20% of the legislators.[5] On his return, NTR launched a popular campaign against Ram Lal and the Congress Party leading to President Zail Singh to dismiss Ram Lal on 29 August 1984 and NTR being re-appointed the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Death

Thakur Ram Lal died on 6 July 2002 in Shimla following a massive cardiac arrest. He was survived by four daughters, a son and grandson and a granddaughter, two great granddaughters and one great grandson.

His grandson, Rohit Thakur is an MLA from Jubbal-Kotkhai.

Notes and References

  1. News: 8 July 2002 . HP ex-CM Thakur Ramlal dead Chandigarh News - Times of India . 24 February 2021 . The Times of India . en.
  2. Web site: Chawla . Prabhu . October 21, 1983 . Thakur Ram Lal resigns as Himachal Pradesh CM to pave the way for Virbhadra Singh . 2020-08-17 . India Today . en.
  3. News: Prabhu . Chawla . 30 October 1983 . Thakur Ram Lal resigns as Himachal Pradesh CM to pave the way for Virbhadra Singh . 24 February 2021 . India Today . en.
  4. News: 8 July 2002 . HP ex-CM Thakur Ramlal dead . 10 January 2010 . . Chandigarh.
  5. Web site: Chawla . Prabhu . July 18, 1983 . Timber smuggling case haunts former Himachal Pradesh CM Thakur Ram Lal . 2020-08-17 . India Today . en.