Suraj Bhan (1 October 1928 – 6 August 2006) was a former Governor, Member of Parliament and an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n politician from

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

Personal life

Suraj Bhan Banswal was born on 1 October 1928 at Mehlanwali,

Yamuna Nagar Yamunanagar (), is a city and a municipal corporation in Yamunanagar district in the Indian state of Haryana. This town is known for the cluster of plywood units and paper industries. It provides timber to larger industries. The older town is ...

district of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

into

Chamar Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...

community and studied MA and

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both Punjab, India, State and Government of India, Union governments, it is considered a state university (Indi ...

and Kurukshetra University. He started his public life as a volunteer of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak 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 family" ...

. His son Arun Kumar is also associated with BJP and been in-charge in various municipal corp. elections in Hayana.

Political career

*He started his political career with

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) ( ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...

which eventually became the

and dropped his last name "Banswal" after joining active politics. *He represented the

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-are ...

parliamentary constituency of

in the 4th (1967–1970), 6th (1977–1979),

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

(1979–1984) and the 11th Lok Sabhas (1996–1997). *In 1987, he was elected to Haryana Legislative Assembly and served as Revenue Minister in

Devi Lal Chaudhary Devi Lal (born Devi Dayal; 25 September 1915 – 6 April 2001) was an Indian statesman who served as 6th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1991 in the governments of V. P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar. Also popularly known as ...

's govt. (1987-1989). After the BJP broke alliance with Devi Lal's party, he served as Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly (1989–1990). *He was appointed as Haryana State President of Bharatiya Janata Party in 1984. *In 1996, he held the portfolio of Agriculture Minister under

First Vajpayee Ministry Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Minis ...

after which he served as Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha (1996-1997). *He lost in 1998 Lok Sabha elections, but was appointed as the

Governor of Uttar Pradesh The following is the list of governors of Uttar Pradesh. The list also includes governors of the United Provinces of pre-independent India as well as Independent India from 15 August 1947 to 25 January 1950. The province was renamed Uttar Prade ...

(1998-2000),

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

(2000-2003), and then as

Governor of Bihar The governor of Bihar is a nominal head and representative of the President of India in the state of Bihar. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of 5 years. Phagu Chauhan is the current governor of Bihar. Former President Zaki ...

(1999). *In 2002 Dr Suraj Bhan also joined the race for the post of Vice-President of India following re-thinking in the BJP over the candidature of former Rajasthan Chief Minister, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. *In Feb. 2004, he was appointed as the National Chairman of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission. He died of cardiac arrest following multiple organ failure on 6 August 2006 in New Delhi at the age of 77.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060101023238/http://www.upgovernor.nic.in/bhanbio.htm Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Haryana Governors of Himachal Pradesh Governors of Uttar Pradesh 1928 births 2006 deaths Janata Party politicians People from Yamunanagar district Deputy Speakers of the Lok Sabha Kurukshetra University alumni India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1996–1997 Agriculture Ministers of India Chairmans of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes Lok Sabha members from Haryana Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians State cabinet ministers of Haryana Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education {{Haryana-BJP-politician-stub