Hari Krishan Lal Bhagat (4 April 1921 – 29 October 2005) was an Indian politician of the Congress party. He served as the Deputy Mayor and Mayor of Delhi, the chief whip of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC), and as a six-time MP and Union minister for 22 years.

Career and Death

A strong

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

loyalist, and strong leader in Delhi in the 1980s, Bhagat won six consecutive elections by large margins, and was responsible for a Congress comeback in the 1980 and 1983 elections in Delhi. He was known to have a strong group in the Congress Party, and won his first Lok Sabha election in 1980 from the East Delhi constituency in Delhi. He grew in political stature after Congress' victory in the local elections of 1983 which led him to be known as the ‘Uncrowned King of Delhi’ for many a years. He held ministerial positions, including of Information and Broadcasting, Parliamentary Affairs and Law, and made the state-run TV "Doordarshan" the Congress party's mouthpiece during the mid to late 1980s. Bhagat's career declined after losing from East Delhi in 1991. Towards the end of his political career, he was named by the

Nanavati Commission The Justice G.T. Nanavati commission was a one-man commission headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India, appointed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in May 2000, to investigate the "k ...

for an alleged involvement in the

1984 Anti-Sikh Riots The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...

. The government ultimately declined to prosecute Bhagat because of his poor health by that time. He was acquitted by the courts in both cases citing lack of evidence as many witnesses including his security personnel testifying that Bhagat was next to late PM Indira Gandhi's body for 3 days and did not leave her premises. The then Lieutenant Governor of Delhi also testified to Nanavati commission that HKL Bhagat called him multiple times asking for the Army to be brought in. Bhagat died in a hospital after prolonged illness and he was suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. He is survived by DPCC gen secretary, his son Deepak Bhagat and his daughter.

References

External links

A short profile at The Tribune site

Times Of India Report on 1984 Anti-Sikh Pogroms
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhagat, H. K. L. Indian National Congress politicians 1984 anti-Sikh riots Mayors of Delhi 1921 births 2005 deaths India MPs 1971–1977 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 Lok Sabha members from Delhi People from East Delhi district Ministers for Information and Broadcasting of India Tourism ministers of India Members of the Cabinet of India