Suraj Bhan
सूरज भान
Suraj Bhan
Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes
In office
2004 - 2006
Succeeded byButa Singh
14th Governor of Himachal Pradesh
In office
23 November 2000 – 7 May 2003
Chief MinisterPrem Kumar Dhumal
Virbhadra Singh
Preceded byVishnu Kant Shastri
Succeeded byVishnu Sadashiv Kokje
23rd Governor of Uttar Pradesh
In office
20 April 1998 – 23 November 2000
Chief MinisterKalyan Singh
Ram Prakash Gupta
Rajnath Singh
Preceded byMohammad Shafi Qureshi (Acting)
Succeeded byVishnu Kant Shastri
Governor of Bihar
(Additional Charge)
In office
6 October 1999 – 23 November 1999
Chief MinisterRabri Devi
Preceded byB.M. Lall (Acting)
Succeeded byV. C. Pande
11th Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha
In office
12 July 1996 – 4 December 1997
SpeakerP. A. Sangma
Preceded byS. Mallikarjunaiah
Succeeded byP. M. Sayeed
22nd Minister of Agriculture
In office
16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded byJagannath Mishra
Succeeded byH. D. Deve Gowda
Member of Parliament- Ambala (Haryana)
In office
1967–1970;
1977–1979;
1979–1984;
1996–1997
Leader of Opposition of Haryana Assembly
In office
1989–1990
Revenue Minister (Haryana)
In office
1987–1989
Personal details
Born(1928-10-01)1 October 1928
Yamunanagar, British India
Died6 August 2006(2006-08-06) (aged 77)
Delhi, India
Cause of deathCardiac Arrest
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party

Suraj Bhan (1 October 1928 – 6 August 2006) was a former Governor, Member of Parliament and an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party.

Personal life

Suraj Bhan Banswal was born on 1 October 1928 at Mehlanwali, Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana into Chamar community and studied MA and LLB at Panjab University and Kurukshetra University.[1]

He started his public life as a volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.[2] His son Arun Kumar is also associated with BJP and been in-charge in various municipal corp. elections in Hayana.[3]

Political career

  • He started his political career with Bharatiya Jana Sangh which eventually became the Bharatiya Janata Party and dropped his last name "Banswal" after joining active politics.
  • He represented the Ambala parliamentary constituency of Haryana in the 4th (1967–1970), 6th (1977–1979), 7th (1979–1984) and the 11th Lok Sabhas (1996–1997).[4]
  • In 1987, he was elected to Haryana Legislative Assembly and served as Revenue Minister in Devi Lal'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.[5]
  • In 1996, he held the portfolio of Agriculture Minister under First Vajpayee Ministry 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 (1998-2000), Himachal Pradesh (2000-2003), and then as Governor of Bihar (1999).[6]
  • 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.[7]
  • In Feb. 2004, he was appointed as the National Chairman of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission.[8]

He died of cardiac arrest following multiple organ failure on 6 August 2006 in New Delhi at the age of 77.

References

  1. ↑ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India. Hurst. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8.
  2. ↑ Subhash Mishra (3 April 2000). "Family Face-Off". India Today. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  3. ↑ Jaskaran Singh (2 April 2019). "Ambala: Ex-MP Suraj Bhan's son Arun Kumar among BJP probables - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "Biographical Sketch of Member of XI Lok Sabha". loksabhaph.nic.in. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "List of Ex State Presidents". BJPHaryana.org.
  6. ↑ Surendra Kishore (17 November 1999). "Bihar Governor sacks underage minister". Indian Express. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  7. ↑ Yoginder Gupta (12 July 2002). "Suraj Bhan joins race for VP's post". The Tribune. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  8. ↑ "SC/ST Commission Chairman Suraj Bhan dead". DNA India. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
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