Bangaru Laxman (17 March 1939 – 1 March 2014) was an Indian politician. He was a member of

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

(BJP) and

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 ...

(RSS). He was President of party from 2000 to 2001 and served as a minister of state for railways in

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

from 1999 to 2000. He was sentenced to four years in jail for defence deal corruption case.

Early life

Bangaru Laxman was born in

Madiga Madiga, also known as Maadiga, Maatangi, Makkalu and Mahadiga, are an artisan community from southern India. They mainly live in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, with a small minority in Tamil Nadu. Madigas are historic ...

caste (a Dalit community) in

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

. His father was B. Narasimha and mother was B. Shivamma. He did his BA and LLB in Hyderabad. His wife

Susheela Laxman Bangaru Susheela Laxman Bangaru (14 March 1948 in Jhansi – 3 March 2018 in Hyderabad) was an Indian politician. She was a member of Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009, elected from Jalore constituency in Rajasthan as a candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party. S ...

was a member of 14th Lok Sabha. She was elected from Jalore constituency in Rajasthan as a candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party. He had a son and three daughters.

Career

Laxman entered politics at a young age. He was jailed during

emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

in 1975. He was elected to

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

in 1996. He has held many party positions including the party president during 2000–2001. He was the first Dalit president of BJP. He was member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council from 1980–85. He was member of Rajya Sabha representing Gujarat from 1996–2002. He served in the Council of Ministers as Minister of State for Planning, Statistics and Programme Implementation from October- November 1999 and Ministry of Railway from November 1999 to August 2000. At the age of 12, in 1953, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and held several organisational responsibilities, and became active member of Jan Sangh Party in 1969. In the meanwhile he joined the government service in Electricity Department, in Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1958. He had his primary education in government high school in Nampally in Hyderabad and did BA from Osmania University. He also completed his LLB in evening college of Law, Osmania University in Hyderabad. He was actively associated with working class movement and headed trade union activities.

Controversy

Laxman was involved in a major controversy when a private TV network ''

Tehelka ''Tehelka'' (Hindi: Sensation) is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and a ...

'' allegedly showed him taking bribes from

Mathew Samuel Mathew Samuel is a former managing editor of the Indian news magazine ''Tehelka''. He is one of the founding members of the magazine, and as a special correspondent there, he instigated Tehelka's biggest corruption investigation, Operation West ...

on a hidden camera while he was the president of the BJP. He was convicted by a Special CBI Court on 27 April 2012 for taking bribe under Prevention of Corruption Act and was taken into custody. Bangaru Laxman was convicted in defence deal

corruption case. Laxman was sentenced to 4-year rigorous imprisonment in prison for his crimes. Laxman was sentenced to four years in jail on 28 April 2012. 72-year-old Bangaru, who was held guilty in the case, was produced from Tihar Jail before Special CBI Judge Kanwal Jeet Arora. Bangaru was convicted for taking bribe from fake arms dealer to recommend to the defence ministry to award them a contract to supply thermal binoculars to the Army. Soon after the judgment Bangaru Laxman resigned from the

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...

's National Executive. He was granted bail under Justice A K Pathak with a bail bond of 50,000.

Death

Bangaru Lakshman died on 1 March 2014 at Yashoda Hospital, Secunderabad in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

, from a prolonged illness and respiratory problems. He was out on bail due to health concerns.

References

External links

Profile on the BJP website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laxman, Bangaru Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Telangana Telugu politicians 1939 births Presidents of Bharatiya Janata Party 2014 deaths Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat Indian prisoners and detainees Janata Party politicians Prisoners and detainees of India