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{{Short description|Indian politician}}
{{other uses|Bhajan Lal (disambiguation) }}
{{Short description|6th Chief Minister of Haryana}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Bhajanlal Bishnoi
| name                = Bhajan Lal
| native_name        =  
| native_name        =  
| native_name_lang    = hi
| native_name_lang    = hi
| image              =  
| image              = Bhajan Lal Bishnoi.jpg
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1930|10|6|df=y}}
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1930|10|6|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Bahawalpur district|Kotwali]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]]<br><small>(now in [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Pakistan]])</small>
| birth_place        = [[Bahawalpur district|Kotwali]], [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur State]], [[British India]]<br /><small>(now in [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Pakistan]])</small>
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2011|06|03|1930|10|6|df=y}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2011|06|03|1930|10|6|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Hisar, Haryana]], [[India]]
| death_place        = [[Hisar, Haryana]], [[India]]
| office5            = [[Member of legislative assembly]]
| otherparty              = [[Indian National Congress]] (1968-77 & 1979–96) <br /> [[Janata Party]] (1977–79
| term5              = 1972 to 2005
) <br /> | party=[[Haryana Janhit Congress]]
| constituency5      = Aadampur
| spouse              = Jasmadevi Bishnoi
| predecessor5        = H singh
| children            = [[Chander Mohan Bishnoi]]<br />[[Kuldeep Bishnoi]] <br />Roshni Bishnoi
| successor5          = [[Kuldeep Bishnoi]]
| office              = 6th [[List of chief ministers of Haryana|Chief Minister of Haryana]]
| office1            = [[List of chief ministers of Haryana| Chief Minister of Haryana]]
| term_start          = 23 June 1991
| term_end            = 11 May 1996
| predecessor        = [[Om Prakash Chautala]]
| successor          = [[Bansi Lal]]
| term_start1        = 29 June 1979
| term_start1        = 29 June 1979
| term_end1          = 5 July 1986
| term_end1          = 5 July 1986
| constituency1      = Adampur
| predecessor1        = [[Chaudhary Devi Lal]]
| predecessor1        = [[Chaudhary Devi Lal]]
| successor1          = [[Bansi Lal]]
| successor1          = [[Bansi Lal]]
| term_start2        = 23 July 1991
| office3            = [[Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha]]
| term_end2          = 9 May 1996
| term_start3        = 2 aug 1986
| constituency2      = Adampur
| term_end3          = 27 nov 1989
| predecessor2        = [[President's Rule]]
| constituency3      = [[Haryana]]
| successor2          = Bansi Lal
| office4            = [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha]]
| constituency_MP3    = [[Karnal (Lok Sabha constituency)|Karnal]]
| term_start4        = 16 May 2009
| parliament3        = Indian
| term_end4          = 3 June 2011
| term_start3        = 1998
| term_end3          = 1999
| predecessor3        = [[Ishwar Dayal Swami]]
| successor3          = Ishwar Dayal Swami
| constituency_MP4    = [[Hisar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Hisar]]
| parliament4        = Indian
| term_start4        = 2009
| term_end4          = 2011
| predecessor4        = [[Jai Parkash]]
| predecessor4        = [[Jai Parkash]]
| successor4          = [[Kuldeep Bishnoi]]
| successor4          = [[Kuldeep Bishnoi]]
| party              = [[Indian National Congress]] (1982–96) <br> [[Janata Party]] (1979–82) <br> [[Haryana Janhit Congress]]
| constituency4      = [[Hisar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Hisar]]
| spouse              = Jasmadevi Bishnoi
| term_start5        = 10 March 1998
| children            = [[Chander Mohan Bishnoi]]<br>[[Kuldeep Bishnoi]] <br>Roshni Bishnoi
| term_end5          = 26 April 1999
| predecessor5        = [[Ishwar Dayal Swami]]
| successor5          = [[Ishwar Dayal Swami]]
| constituency5      = [[Karnal (Lok Sabha constituency)|Karnal]]
| term_start6        = 2 December 1989
| term_end6          = 13 March 1991
| predecessor6        = [[Chaudhary Khurshid Ahmed|Khurshid Ahmed]]
| successor6          = [[Avtar Singh Bhadana]]
| constituency6      = [[Faridabad Lok Sabha constituency|Faridabad]]
| office7            = [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|Member of the ]][[Haryana Legislative Assembly]]
| term7              = 1968-1987 and 1991-1998 and 2000-2009
| constituency7      = [[Adampur, Haryana Assembly constituency|Adampur]]
| predecessor7        = H. Singh
| successor7          = [[Kuldeep Bishnoi]]
| caption            = Bhajan Lal in 1989
}}
}}
'''Bhajanlal Bishnoi''' (6 October 1930 – 3 June 2011) was a politician and three-time [[chief minister]] from the [[India]]n state of [[Haryana]]. He first became the Chief Minister in 1979, again in 1982, and again in 1991. He also served as the Union Agricultural Minister.
 
'''Bhajan Lal''' (6 October 1930 – 3 June 2011) was a politician and three-time [[chief minister]] of the [[India]]n state of [[Haryana]]. He became the Chief Minister for the first time in 1979, was re-elected in 1982, and became the chief minister for the third time by winning the [[1991 Haryana Legislative Assembly election|elections in 1991]]. He also served as the [[Minister of Agriculture (India)|Minister of Agriculture]] and the [[Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change|Minister of Environment and Forests]] in the [[Second Rajiv Gandhi ministry|Rajiv Gandhi government]].


==Early life==
==Early life==
Bhajan Lal Bishnoi was born on 6 October 1930 in the Koranwali village of [[British Raj|British India]]'s [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]] princely state, which is now in [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal dies of heart attack |url=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/former-haryana-chief-minister-bhajan-lal-dies-of-heart-attack-457534 |access-date=18 April 2016 |work=[[NDTV]] |agency=[[Press Trust of India]]|date=3 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418101911/http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/former-haryana-chief-minister-bhajan-lal-dies-of-heart-attack-457534 |archive-date=18 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Haryana Vidhan Sabha: Who's who: 2000 |url=http://www.hryvidhansabhahistory.com/who/2000.pdf |publisher=[[Government of Haryana]] |access-date=18 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418094042/http://www.hryvidhansabhahistory.com/who/2000.pdf|archive-date=18 April 2016 |page=40 |format=PDF |url-status=unfit}}</ref> He married Jasmadevi, with whom he had two sons - [[Chander Mohan Bishnoi]] and [[Kuldeep Bishnoi|Kuldip Bishnoi]] and a daughter, Roshni. A farmer by profession, Lal started his political career by becoming a village ''[[sarpanch]]'' and later the chairman of ''pamnchayaity samiti'' of Hisar. He join the [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]], and became the president of the Congress Mandal in the region. He was elected to the Haryana Assembly for the first time in 1968 after winning the mid-term polls in Adampur.
Bhajan Lal was born in a [[Bishnoi]] family<ref>{{cite news|title=Will Caste Politics Overturn BJP's Anti-incumbency in Haryana? |date=19 September 2024 |website=The Wire |url=https://m.thewire.in/author/Aamir-Shakil}}</ref> on 6 October 1930 in the Koranwali village of [[British Raj|British India]]'s [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]] princely state in modern-day Pakistan. He received his formal education in [[Bahawalnagar]]. Lal lived under difficult circumstances and had to sell his wares on a cycle to make a living.<ref name="NDTV">{{cite news |title=Former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal dies of heart attack |url=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/former-haryana-chief-minister-bhajan-lal-dies-of-heart-attack-457534 |access-date=18 April 2016 |work=[[NDTV]] |agency=[[Press Trust of India]]|date=3 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418101911/http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/former-haryana-chief-minister-bhajan-lal-dies-of-heart-attack-457534 |archive-date=18 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Haryana Vidhan Sabha: Who's who: 2000 |url=http://www.hryvidhansabhahistory.com/who/2000.pdf |publisher=[[Government of Haryana]] |access-date=18 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418094042/http://www.hryvidhansabhahistory.com/who/2000.pdf|archive-date=18 April 2016 |page=40 |url-status=usurped |format=PDF }}</ref> He married Jasma Devi, with whom he had two sons - [[Chander Mohan Bishnoi]] and [[Kuldeep Bishnoi|Kuldip Bishnoi]] and a daughter, Roshni.
 
Bhajan Lal moved to [[Adampur, Hisar|Adampur]] after [[Partition of India|the Partition]]. At the age of 17 he began buying and selling goods at his village market, he soon started a shop in partnership with Pokhar Mal who was a local trader. Both of them worked as commission agents (intermediaries between the fanner and the wholesaler), this work got him into trouble with the local police. He initially joined politics to protect himself from the police. The police had 12 criminal cases and charges against him, all of which were dropped once he became a MLA.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-08-29 |title=Bhajan Lal: The artful manipulator - Special Report News - Issue Date: Jun 30, 1982 |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19820630-the-amazing-survival-saga-of-haryana-chief-minister-bhajan-lal-771934-2013-10-09 |access-date=2022-08-29 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829114626/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19820630-the-amazing-survival-saga-of-haryana-chief-minister-bhajan-lal-771934-2013-10-09 |archive-date=29 August 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>


==Political career==
==Political career==
{{section refimprove|date = January 2013}}
Lal started his political career by becoming a village ''[[sarpanch]]'' and later the chairman of the [[panchayat samiti]] of Hisar. He joined the [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]], and became the president of the Congress Mandal in the region. He was elected to the [[Haryana Legislative Assembly|Haryana Assembly]] for the first time in 1968 after winning the mid-term polls in [[Adampur, Haryana Assembly constituency|Adampur]]. He retained this seat for the remainder of his political career except in 1987 when his wife won the seat.<ref name="NDTV"/>
Lal was the chief minister of the Haryana state. His first term began on 28 June 1979. He was re-elected on May 23rd, 1982 serving until July 1985. His third term ran from 23 July 1991 to 11 May 1996. He also served as a union cabinet minister at the centre, holding the Agriculture and Environments and Forest portfolios during [[Rajiv Gandhi]]'s administration. When [[Indira Gandhi]] came to power in January 1980, Lal was serving as CM of [[Janata Party]] in [[Haryana]]; he immediately defected with the majority of the party's MLAs to Congress and continued as CM. This act revealed him as an opportunist and as an exemplar of 'आया राम गया राम' culture in which opportunist politicians show no loyalty.
 
=== Janata Party ===
In 1977 elections he contested under a [[Janata Party]] ticket and won the elections. Under the new Janata Party government of [[Devi Lal]], Bhajan Lal was given a number of ministries including the ministry of dairy development and animal husbandry, the ministry of labour and employment, and the forests ministry. However in 1979 he defected to the Congress along with a group of [[Member of the Legislative Assembly|MLAs]] thereby toppling the Janata Party government.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Choudhary |first=Ratnadeep |date=2019-06-03 |title=Bhajan Lal, the village sarpanch who rose to become Haryana's powerful CM |url=https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/bhajan-lal-the-village-sarpanch-who-rose-to-become-haryanas-powerful-cm/245053/ |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref>
 
=== First and Second Terms as Chief Minister ===
Following his defection to the Congress he became the [[Chief Minister of Haryana]] with a razor thin majority. In 1980 following the victory of [[Indira Gandhi]] led Congress (I) in [[1980 Indian general election|the general elections]], many Janata Party leaders began to defect, by then he was able to get as many as 40 Janata Party MLAs into the Congress and secured a strong majority of 50 MLAs in an assembly of 90 MLAs. He had achieved this despite his rival Devi Lal resorting to guarding his 42 [[Janata Party]] MLAs in a farmhouse with guards armed with submachine guns. He offered the defecting MLAs land, money, positions in state corporations and boards, and cabinet positions to this end he had expanded the number of cabinet ministries to 26 which made every second congress MLA a minister. He also held control over the state's [[Criminal Investigation Department (India)|Criminal Investigation Department]], which he used to his advantage by filing cases against he rivals to pressure them into withdrawing or joining him.<ref name=":0" />  This horse trading during his first term had led to the [[Hindustan Times]] calling him the "master of horse-trading".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-11-15 |title=When the horsetraders got traded |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/when-the-horsetraders-got-traded/story-ERhsM2hxlmzLFjyFWiK1nL.html |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref>
 
Bhajan Lal's record on governance and the economy however was seen as poor at the time with state corporations and boards seeing sharp declines in their surpluses and no addition of new electricity generation capacity in the state during his initial years of rule between 1979-1982.<ref name=":0" /> He was [[1982 Haryana Legislative Assembly election|re-elected]] on 23 May 1982 and served until July 1986.{{fact|date=December 2023}}
 
==== 1987 Elections ====
Although he did not lead the party into the [[1987 Haryana Legislative Assembly election|1987 elections]], the electoral rout of the Congress in that elections resulted in him being slowly sidelined in the party in favour of newer leaders like [[Bhupinder Singh Hooda|Bhupinder Hooda]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ahuja |first=Rajesh |date=2011-06-03 |title=Bhajan Lal passes away |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/bhajan-lal-passes-away/article2074044.ece |access-date=2022-08-29 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>
 
=== Union Minister and National Politics ===
In 1986 following the end of his tenure as Chief Minister, he was made a [[Rajya Sabha]] [[Member of Parliament (India)|MP]], and was appointed as the [[Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change|Union Minister of Environment and Forests]] under the [[Second Rajiv Gandhi ministry|Rajiv Gandhi government]]. In 1988 he was made the [[Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare|Union Minister of Agriculture]]. In 1989 he was elected to the [[Lok Sabha]] after winning in the constituency of [[Faridabad Lok Sabha constituency|Faridabad]] by defeating [[Chaudhary Khurshid Ahmed|Khurshid Ahmed]] from the [[Janata Party]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-29 |title=Members : Lok Sabha |url=http://164.100.47.194/loksabha/members/ArchiveMemberBioprofile.aspx?mpsno=3247&lastls=15 |access-date=2022-08-29 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829120213/http://164.100.47.194/loksabha/members/ArchiveMemberBioprofile.aspx?mpsno=3247&lastls=15 |archive-date=29 August 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
=== Third Term as Chief Minister ===
He resigned from the Lok Sabha and contested the [[1991 Haryana Legislative Assembly election|Haryana Assembly elections held in 1991]] from Adampur, Congress won the elections and he was made the chief minister for the third time. However, in the [[1996 Haryana Legislative Assembly election|1996 elections]] the Congress suffered a major defeat, and Bhajan Lal never became a chief minister following that.<ref name=":1" />


The victory of the [[Indian National Congress]] in Haryana's 2005 elections caused a major rift in its state unit, as it opted to make [[Bhupinder Hooda]], a Jat, the Chief Minister instead of Lal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bhajan Lal makes a turnaround|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/03/06/stories/2005030603290800.htm|access-date=3 November 2010|newspaper=The Hindu|date=6 March 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819025821/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/03/06/stories/2005030603290800.htm|archive-date=19 August 2010|url-status=usurped}}</ref> In 2007, Lal officially announced he would form a new party, called the [[Haryana Janhit Congress]]. The key event that brought this about was the suspension of his son Kuldeep Bishnoi from the Indian National Congress, for criticizing the party's central leaders.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bhajan Plans New Party|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Bhajan_plans_new_party/articleshow/1759573.cms|access-date=3 November 2010|newspaper=The Times of India|date=14 March 2007}}</ref>
=== Leaving the Congress ===
The victory of the [[Indian National Congress]] in Haryana's 2005 elections caused a major rift in its state unit, as it opted to make [[Bhupinder Hooda]], a Jat, the Chief Minister instead of Lal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bhajan Lal makes a turnaround|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/03/06/stories/2005030603290800.htm|access-date=3 November 2010|newspaper=The Hindu|date=6 March 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819025821/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/03/06/stories/2005030603290800.htm|archive-date=19 August 2010|url-status=usurped}}</ref> In 2007, Lal officially announced he would form a new party, called the [[Haryana Janhit Congress]]. The key event that brought this about was the suspension of his son [[Kuldeep Bishnoi]] from the Indian National Congress, for criticizing the party's central leaders.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bhajan Plans New Party|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Bhajan_plans_new_party/articleshow/1759573.cms|access-date=3 November 2010|newspaper=The Times of India|date=14 March 2007}}</ref>


===2009 Lok Sabha Elections===
===2009 Lok Sabha Elections===


Lal fought election from [[Hissar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Hissar]] and defeated Sampat Singh, INLD leader by 6983 votes, Jai parkash of Congress came at third position in a high-profile battle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/sampat-singh-quits-inld/662703|title=Sampat Singh Quits INLD|website=Outlook (India)|access-date=2020-01-05}}</ref>
He fought the 2009 Lok Sabha election despite being 79 years old at the time, stating that he was still "young enough to win elections".<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 May 2009 |title=I am young enough to win polls: Bhajan Lal |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/i-am-young-enough-to-win-polls-bhajan-lal/articleshow/4478133.cms |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref> He fought from [[Hissar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Hissar]] and defeated [[Sampat Singh]], [[Indian National Lok Dal|INLD]] leader by 6983 votes, [[Jai Parkash|Jai parkash]] of Congress came at third position in a high-profile battle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/sampat-singh-quits-inld/662703|title=Sampat Singh Quits INLD|website=Outlook (India)|access-date=2020-01-05}}</ref>


==Death==
==Death==
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==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist}}


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[[Category:People from Panchkula]]
[[Category:People from Panchkula]]
[[Category:Chief Ministers of Haryana]]
[[Category:Chief ministers of Haryana]]
[[Category:15th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:India MPs 2009–2014]]
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:9th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:India MPs 1989–1991]]
[[Category:12th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:India MPs 1998–1999]]
[[Category:People from Bahawalpur District]]
[[Category:People from Bahawalpur District]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Haryana]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Haryana]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Agriculture Ministers of India]]
[[Category:Agriculture ministers of India]]
[[Category:Members of the Cabinet of India]]
[[Category:Members of the Cabinet of India]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Janata Party]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Janata Party]]
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[[Category:Haryana MLAs 2000–2005]]
[[Category:Haryana MLAs 2000–2005]]
[[Category:Haryana Janhit Congress politicians]]
[[Category:Haryana Janhit Congress politicians]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Haryana]]
[[Category:Politicians from Faridabad]]
[[Category:Politicians from Faridabad]]
[[Category:State funerals in India]]
[[Category:Haryana MLAs 2005–2009]]
[[Category:Haryana MLAs 1968–1972]]
[[Category:Presidents of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee]]

Latest revision as of 21:31, 19 February 2026

For other uses, see Bhajan Lal (disambiguation).

Bhajan Lal
Bhajan Lal in 1989
6th Chief Minister of Haryana
In office
23 June 1991 – 11 May 1996
Preceded byOm Prakash Chautala
Succeeded byBansi Lal
In office
29 June 1979 – 5 July 1986
Preceded byChaudhary Devi Lal
Succeeded byBansi Lal
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
2 aug 1986 – 27 nov 1989
ConstituencyHaryana
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
16 May 2009 – 3 June 2011
Preceded byJai Parkash
Succeeded byKuldeep Bishnoi
ConstituencyHisar
In office
10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999
Preceded byIshwar Dayal Swami
Succeeded byIshwar Dayal Swami
ConstituencyKarnal
In office
2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991
Preceded byKhurshid Ahmed
Succeeded byAvtar Singh Bhadana
ConstituencyFaridabad
Member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly
In office
1968-1987 and 1991-1998 and 2000-2009
Preceded byH. Singh
Succeeded byKuldeep Bishnoi
ConstituencyAdampur
Personal details
Born(1930-10-06)6 October 1930
Kotwali, Bahawalpur State, British India
(now in Punjab, Pakistan)
Died3 June 2011(2011-06-03) (aged 80)
Hisar, Haryana, India
Political partyHaryana Janhit Congress
Other political
affiliations		Indian National Congress (1968-77 & 1979–96)
Janata Party (1977–79 )
Spouse(s)Jasmadevi Bishnoi
ChildrenChander Mohan Bishnoi
Kuldeep Bishnoi
Roshni Bishnoi

Bhajan Lal (6 October 1930 – 3 June 2011) was a politician and three-time chief minister of the Indian state of Haryana. He became the Chief Minister for the first time in 1979, was re-elected in 1982, and became the chief minister for the third time by winning the elections in 1991. He also served as the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Environment and Forests in the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Early life[edit | edit source]

Bhajan Lal was born in a Bishnoi family[1] on 6 October 1930 in the Koranwali village of British India's Bahawalpur princely state in modern-day Pakistan. He received his formal education in Bahawalnagar. Lal lived under difficult circumstances and had to sell his wares on a cycle to make a living.[2][3] He married Jasma Devi, with whom he had two sons - Chander Mohan Bishnoi and Kuldip Bishnoi and a daughter, Roshni.

Bhajan Lal moved to Adampur after the Partition. At the age of 17 he began buying and selling goods at his village market, he soon started a shop in partnership with Pokhar Mal who was a local trader. Both of them worked as commission agents (intermediaries between the fanner and the wholesaler), this work got him into trouble with the local police. He initially joined politics to protect himself from the police. The police had 12 criminal cases and charges against him, all of which were dropped once he became a MLA.[4]

Political career[edit | edit source]

Lal started his political career by becoming a village sarpanch and later the chairman of the panchayat samiti of Hisar. He joined the Congress Party, and became the president of the Congress Mandal in the region. He was elected to the Haryana Assembly for the first time in 1968 after winning the mid-term polls in Adampur. He retained this seat for the remainder of his political career except in 1987 when his wife won the seat.[2]

Janata Party[edit | edit source]

In 1977 elections he contested under a Janata Party ticket and won the elections. Under the new Janata Party government of Devi Lal, Bhajan Lal was given a number of ministries including the ministry of dairy development and animal husbandry, the ministry of labour and employment, and the forests ministry. However in 1979 he defected to the Congress along with a group of MLAs thereby toppling the Janata Party government.[5]

First and Second Terms as Chief Minister[edit | edit source]

Following his defection to the Congress he became the Chief Minister of Haryana with a razor thin majority. In 1980 following the victory of Indira Gandhi led Congress (I) in the general elections, many Janata Party leaders began to defect, by then he was able to get as many as 40 Janata Party MLAs into the Congress and secured a strong majority of 50 MLAs in an assembly of 90 MLAs. He had achieved this despite his rival Devi Lal resorting to guarding his 42 Janata Party MLAs in a farmhouse with guards armed with submachine guns. He offered the defecting MLAs land, money, positions in state corporations and boards, and cabinet positions to this end he had expanded the number of cabinet ministries to 26 which made every second congress MLA a minister. He also held control over the state's Criminal Investigation Department, which he used to his advantage by filing cases against he rivals to pressure them into withdrawing or joining him.[4] This horse trading during his first term had led to the Hindustan Times calling him the "master of horse-trading".[6]

Bhajan Lal's record on governance and the economy however was seen as poor at the time with state corporations and boards seeing sharp declines in their surpluses and no addition of new electricity generation capacity in the state during his initial years of rule between 1979-1982.[4] He was re-elected on 23 May 1982 and served until July 1986.[citation needed]

1987 Elections[edit | edit source]

Although he did not lead the party into the 1987 elections, the electoral rout of the Congress in that elections resulted in him being slowly sidelined in the party in favour of newer leaders like Bhupinder Hooda.[7]

Union Minister and National Politics[edit | edit source]

In 1986 following the end of his tenure as Chief Minister, he was made a Rajya Sabha MP, and was appointed as the Union Minister of Environment and Forests under the Rajiv Gandhi government. In 1988 he was made the Union Minister of Agriculture. In 1989 he was elected to the Lok Sabha after winning in the constituency of Faridabad by defeating Khurshid Ahmed from the Janata Party.[5][8]

Third Term as Chief Minister[edit | edit source]

He resigned from the Lok Sabha and contested the Haryana Assembly elections held in 1991 from Adampur, Congress won the elections and he was made the chief minister for the third time. However, in the 1996 elections the Congress suffered a major defeat, and Bhajan Lal never became a chief minister following that.[5]

Leaving the Congress[edit | edit source]

The victory of the Indian National Congress in Haryana's 2005 elections caused a major rift in its state unit, as it opted to make Bhupinder Hooda, a Jat, the Chief Minister instead of Lal.[9] In 2007, Lal officially announced he would form a new party, called the Haryana Janhit Congress. The key event that brought this about was the suspension of his son Kuldeep Bishnoi from the Indian National Congress, for criticizing the party's central leaders.[10]

2009 Lok Sabha Elections[edit | edit source]

He fought the 2009 Lok Sabha election despite being 79 years old at the time, stating that he was still "young enough to win elections".[11] He fought from Hissar and defeated Sampat Singh, INLD leader by 6983 votes, Jai parkash of Congress came at third position in a high-profile battle.[12]

Death[edit | edit source]

Bhajan Lal died on 3 June 2011 in Hisar following a heart attack.[13][14]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "Will Caste Politics Overturn BJP's Anti-incumbency in Haryana?". The Wire. 19 September 2024.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal dies of heart attack". NDTV. Press Trust of India. 3 June 2011. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Haryana Vidhan Sabha: Who's who: 2000" (PDF). Government of Haryana. p. 40. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Bhajan Lal: The artful manipulator - Special Report News - Issue Date: Jun 30, 1982". 29 August 2022. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Choudhary, Ratnadeep (3 June 2019). "Bhajan Lal, the village sarpanch who rose to become Haryana's powerful CM". ThePrint. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  6. ↑ "When the horsetraders got traded". Hindustan Times. 15 November 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Ahuja, Rajesh (3 June 2011). "Bhajan Lal passes away". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Members : Lok Sabha". 29 August 2022. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "Bhajan Lal makes a turnaround". The Hindu. 6 March 2005. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "Bhajan Plans New Party". The Times of India. 14 March 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  11. ↑ "I am young enough to win polls: Bhajan Lal". The Times of India. 3 May 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "Sampat Singh Quits INLD". Outlook (India). Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  13. ↑ "Bhajan Lal passes away". The Hindu. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  14. ↑ "Bhajan Lal, 80, dies of heart attack". The Times of India. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
Political offices
Preceded by
Chaudhary Devi Lal 		Chief Minister of Haryana
1979–1985 		Succeeded by
Chaudhary Bansi Lal
Preceded by
Om Prakash Chautala 		Chief Minister of Haryana
1991–1996 		Succeeded by
Chaudhary Bansi Lal
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