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3-time Haryana CM Bhajan Lal dies of heart attack
Raman Mohan/TNS

Hisar, June 3
Former Chief Minister and sitting Lok Sabha member from Hisar Bhajan Lal died of cardiac arrest here this evening.According to family sources, the 81-year-old leader suffered a massive heart attack in the afternoon at his residence in Sector 15 and was rushed to a nearby nursing home.

He was then shifted to another hospital in the Model Town area. However, just as his condition appeared to stabilise and preparations were on to shift him to New Delhi for further treatment, he suddenly collapsed. He was declared dead after a few minutes.

Bhajan Lal is survived by his wife Jasma Devi, a former MLA, sons — Chander Mohan, former Deputy Chief Minister, Kuldeep Bishnoi (MLA) — and a daughter. Both Chander Mohan and Kuldeep Bishnoi were away when Lal breathed his last.

The Haryana Government has announced a three-day state mourning and a public holiday, including under the Negotiable Instruments Act, tomorrow as a mark of respect to the former CM.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda expressed deep shock and grief over the death of Bhajan Lal. Describing Lal as a seasoned politician, Hooda said his death was an irreparable loss to the state.

INLD leader OP Chautala, Haryana BJP president Krishan Pal Gurjar, BJP treasurer Gian Chand Gupta and national secretary Abhimanyu expressed sorrow over the death of Bhajan Lal.

Bhajan Lal remained the Chief Minister for 12 years in three stints. His first two terms lasted from 1979-1982 and 1982-1985. He became the CM again in

1991 and remained in office till 1996. He also served as a Cabinet minister at the Centre and held Agriculture and Environment & Forest portfolios in Rajiv Gandhi’s Cabinet. He was the tallest non-Jat leader of Haryana.

Lal was born on October 6, 1930 in Koranwali, Bahawalpur district (now in Pakistan) in a Bishnoi sub-caste. His political career took off when he was elected as a ‘panch’ of the Adampur Gram Panchayat in the late fifties. Later, he became the sarpanch of the same panchayat.

He represented the Adampur Assembly segment in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha for a record number of times.

He had defeated former Haryana Finance Minister Sampat Singh of the INLD and former Union Minister Jai Prakash of the Congress in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll. Lal was sidelined in the Congress after 1998. He drifted away from the Congress after the party chose Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the Chief Minister after the Assembly elections. He along with his son Kuldeep Bishnoi formed the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) in 2007.