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. He was a member of

Rashtriya Swayansevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( Hindi for "Sangh famil ...

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. 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. He took his bachelor's degree from Kirori Mal College under Delhi University.

Political career

As a student

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

Jan Sangh

As a youth, Khurana became a teacher with Vijay Kumar Malhotra, at PGDAV (evening) College before deciding to enter politics. Madan Lal Khurana, Vijay Kumar Malhotra,

Kedar Nath Sahani Kidar Nath Sahani (24 October 1926 – 3 October 2012) was a governor of the Indian states of Sikkim (2001–02) and Goa (2002–04). He was a pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and a leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Bha ...

and

Kanwar Lal Gupta Kanwar Lal Gupta (16 October 1924 – 19 January 1986) was an Indian politician. He represented Delhi Sadar (Lok Sabha constituency) in 4th Lok Sabha from 1967 to 1971 elected as a candidate of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and again in 6th Lok Sabha from ...

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 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 ...

. 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). 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

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. 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. 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 Vidya Charan Shukla (2 August 1929 – 11 June 2013) was an Indian politician whose political career spanned six decades. He was predominantly a member of the Indian National Congress, but also had spells in Jan Morcha, Janata Dal, Samajw ...

P. Shiv Shankar Punjala Shiv Shankar (10 August 1929 – 27 February 2017) was an Indian politician. He served as the Minister of External Affairs, Law, and Petroleum. He was a very influential minister in Indira Gandhi's and Rajiv Gandhi's cabinets and was ...

, Sharad Yadav,

Balram Jakhar Balram Jakhar (23 August 1923 – 3 February 2016) was an Indian politician, who served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He was also the longest serving Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Early life and education Jakhar ...

, and Madan Lal Khurana. The prosecution that followed was partly prompted by a public interest petition (see

Vineet Narain Vineet Narain (born 1956) is an Indian journalist, anti-corruption activist and conservator of heritage. His exposure of the 1990s Jain Hawala scandal led him to use a public interest petition to apply pressure on the Central Bureau of Investiga ...

), 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. The

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

's role was criticised. In concluding the Vineet Narain case, the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

directed that the Central Vigilance Commission should be given a supervisory role over the CBI.

Personal life

Khurana was married to Raj Khurana. Together they had four children. One of his sons, Vimal, died in August 2018. Two months later, at 11 p.m. (

IST Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...

) on 27 October 2018, Khurana died at his residence in Kirti Nagar, New Delhi, aged 82. He had had a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

five years prior to his death and had been ailing since then.

Notes

References

, - , - , -

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khurana, Madan Lal 1936 births 2018 deaths Government of Delhi Kirori Mal College alumni University of Allahabad alumni Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Governors of Rajasthan Chief Ministers of Delhi India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 Delhi University alumni Members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Lok Sabha members from Delhi People from South Delhi district Punjabi people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Delhi