Bansi Lal

Bansi Lal Biography

Bansi Lal was a senior politician from Haryana belonging to Indian National Congress, who served as the third Chief Minister of the state three times, during the period, 1968-1975, 1985–87, and 1996–99. He is considered by many to be the architect of modern Haryana. Bansi Lal also served as Minister of Railways under Rajiv Gandhi during 1984-1986. He was elected to the Haryana State Assembly seven times, the first time in 1967. He also served as Defence minister of India from December 1975 to March 1977. He was a member of Rajya Sabha from 1960 to 1966 and 1976 to 1980. He was a Lok Sabha member—1980 to 1984, 1985 to 1986 and 1989 to 1991. Thus he was equally successful in state and national level politics as a congress leader.

Bansi Lal is regarded to be one of the most influential congress leaders from Haryana in the 20^th century. His son Ranbir Singh Mahendra too is a senior congress politician, who served as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from 2004 to 2005, apart from the positions of Secretary and Joint Secretary of the BCCI. Currently Bansi Lal‘s grandson, Anirudh Chaudhry, son of Ranbir Singh Mahendra serves as Treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) since 2013. A man linked with numerous controversies throughout his professional journey, he hog in limelight in the recent times for all wrong reasons.

Bansi Lal Legha was born on 26 August 1927 in the village of Golagarh in Bhiwani district of British Punjab, currently a part of Haryana. He completed his law studies from Punjab University Law College, Jalandhar. He served as secretary of Parja mandal in the Loharu State, from 1943 to 1944. He became the president of the Bar Association, Bhiwani in 1957 and served the position for 1 year. Lal was elected to the Haryana State Assembly for the first time in 1967, and there was no turning back after that, till his death in 2006 aged 78.

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Updated: April 05, 2018