Bansi Lal Legha was an Indian independence activist, senior Congress leader, former Chief Minister of Haryana, former Defence Minister of India, and the architect of modern Haryana.
25 Facts About Bansi Lal
2.
Bansi Lal was considered a close confidante of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi during the Emergency era of 1975 -1977.
3.
Bansi Lal served as the Defence Minister of India from December 1975 to March 1977, and had a brief stint as a Minister without Portfolio in the Union government in 1975.
4.
Bansi Lal set up Haryana Vikas Party after parting ways with the Indian National Congress in 1996.
5.
Bansi Lal returned to Congress in 2004, and helped the Congress to win the 2005 Assembly elections.
6.
Bansi Lal was born on 26 August 1927 to Choudhary Mohar Singh and Shrimati Vidya Devi belonging to Hindu Jat community in the village of Golagarh in Bhiwani district, British Punjab.
7.
Bansi Lal did his BA in arts, followed by LLB, for which he studied at the Punjab University Law College, Jalandhar.
8.
Bansi Lal became the Chief Minister of Haryana four times in 1968,1972,1986 and 1996.
9.
Bansi Lal was the third chief minister of Haryana after Bhagwat Dayal Sharma and Rao Birender Singh.
10.
Bansi Lal became Haryana chief minister for the first time on 31 May 1968 at the age of 41 making him the youngest chief minister in the country at the time, and remained in office till 13 March 1972.
11.
Bansi Lal was elected to the state assembly seven times, the first time being in 1967.
12.
Bansi Lal was elected to the state assembly for seven times in 1967,1968,1972,1986,1991 and 2000.
13.
Bansi Lal was responsible for electrifying all villages in Haryana during his tenure as chief minister in the late sixties and seventies.
14.
Bansi Lal is regarded by many as an "Iron man" who was always close to reality and took keen interest in the upliftment of the community.
15.
Bansi Lal became one of the first Chief Ministers to visit Israel, when he led a delegation of agriculturalists and sarpanches to the country in 1971.
16.
Bansi Lal was known to dislike journalists and press especially those critical of him.
17.
Bansi Lal brought the Maruti Car project to Haryana, which was Sanjay Gandhi's pet project, he provided over 297.3 acres of land for Maruti factory in the district of Gurgaon, of which 157 acres belonged to the Ministry of Defense, and 140 acres were highly fertile and populated land that belonged to many farmers.
18.
Bansi Lal provided Maruti a government loan to cover the costs of this purchase.
19.
Bansi Lal did not contest the assembly elections in 2005 but his sons Surender Singh and Ranbir Singh Mahendra were elected to the state assembly.
20.
Bansi Lal was in the limelight when Emergency was imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
21.
Bansi Lal was a confidante of Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi during the controversial Emergency days in 1975.
22.
Bansi Lal was part of a cabal around Sanjay Gandhi, along with V C Shukla, Om Mehta, et al.
23.
Bansi Lal was the defence minister from 21 December 1975 to 24 March 1977 and a minister without portfolio in the Union government from 1 December 1975 to 20 December 1975.
24.
The Shah Commission of Inquiry which was formed at end of the Emergency noted that Bansi Lal often misused his official position for personal reasons.
25.
Bansi Lal died in New Delhi on 28 March 2006 at the age of 78.