Babulal Gaur (born Baburam Yadav; 2 June 1929 – 21 August 2019) was an Indian politician from

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 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. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...

who served as the 16th

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ' ...

. He was elected ten times to the

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha or the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Madhya Pradesh state in India. The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Bhopal, the capital of the state. It is housed in the ''Vidh ...

, twice from Bhopal South and eight times from Govindpura. He retired from electoral politics in 2018 due to old age. Gaur was born in the village of Naugir in

Pratapgarh district, Uttar Pradesh Pratapgarh district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh in the state of India. Its administrative headquarters is located in Pratapgarh city. The district is part of the Prayagraj division (formerly known as Allahabad). Pratapgarh covers ...

. He lived in

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

since his childhood. Gaur's educational qualifications were

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. Gaur started his political career as a trade union leader. He was first elected to Vidhan Sabha in a by-election in Bhopal South constituency in year 1974 as an independent supported by Janata Party. Gaur had participated in a number of national level movements like agitation against The Emergency,

Goa liberation movement The Goa liberation movement was a movement which fought to end Portuguese colonial rule in Goa, Portuguese India. The movement built on the small scale revolts and uprisings of the 19th century, and grew powerful during the period 1940–1961. ...

and Satyagrahas in Delhi, Punjab and other states. He was Minister for Local Administration, Law and Legislative Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, Public Relations, Urban Welfare, Housing (Urban) & Rehabilitation and Bhopal Gas Relief and Rehabilitation from 7 March 1990 to 15 December 1992. He was Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha from 4 September 2002 to 7 December 2003.

Early life

Babulal Gaur was born on 2 June 1929 at village Naugir in Pratapgarh,

United Provinces of British India The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 22 March 1902 to 1937; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province h ...

(now

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, India) as Baburam Yadav. His father Ram Prasad Yadav worked as a wrestler. He was brought up at

. Gaur graduated with a

degree from

Vikram University Vikram University is located in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. The university was named after the ruler Vikramaditya. It was established in 1957. It was evaluated by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council and was awarded B++ gra ...

Ujjain Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...

in 1958 and completed his

in 1965, that too from the Vikram University. Gaur was also an agriculturalist by profession. After he moved to Bhopal, he came to be known by the name Babulal, and he changed his name accordingly to Babulal Gaur, a name that was first used for him in school to differentiate between other pupils with the same name.

Political career

Early politics

Before becoming politically active, he worked in a liquor company and then switched to Bhopal Textiles Mill. Gaur was associated with

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

since 1946. Gaur started his political career as a trade union leader, and participated in several movements for labour rights of the workers. He led protests after joining the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

-backed

Indian National Trade Union Congress The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) is a national trade union centre in India. Founded on 3 May 1947, it is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation. The INTUC claims a membership of over 30 million. Early year ...

(INTUC). He later joined the RSS-backed union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) as one of its founder members. He participated in several programs organised by Sangh in Delhi, Punjab and other states. He became the Secretary of

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh) was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by three founding members: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal ...

in 1956. He unsuccessfully contested the city council election in 1956. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, he contested elections for the first time from Govindpura as a candidate from Bharatiya Jana Sangh but lost the election.

Member of Legislative Assembly

He was first elected to the

in a by-election from Bhopal South in 1974 as an independent candidate supported by

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

. Gaur had participated in national level movements such as agitation against Emergency,

and satyagrahas in Delhi, Punjab and other states. Gaur was detained for 19 months during The Emergency under the

Maintenance of Internal Security Act The Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) was a controversial law passed by the Indian parliament in 1971 giving the administration of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Indian law enforcement agencies very broad powers – indefinite pr ...

(MISA). He contested from Bhopal South in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

as a Janata Party candidate and won the election. From

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

onwards, he contested from Govindpura as a

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. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

candidate and won the seat for eight consecutive elections up to

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. He created a record by winning Vidhan Sabha election by 59,666 votes in 1993. Gaur broke his own record by winning Vidhan Sabha election by 64,212 votes in 2003. During the tenth Vidhan Sabha 1993–98, Babulal Gaur was Chief Whip of BJP Legislature Party, Chairman of Public Accounts Committee, Member of Undertaking Committee, Privilege Committee etc. He was Minister for Local Administration, Law and Legislative Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, Public Relations, Urban Welfare, Housing (Urban) & Rehabilitation and Bhopal Gas Relief and Rehabilitation from 7 March 1990 to 15 December 1992. Gaur was Leader of Opposition from 4 September 2002 to 7 December 2003 in the 11th Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha (1999-2003).

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh

The erstwhile chief minister

Uma Bharti Uma Bharti (born 3 May 1959) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. She became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party at a young age, unsuccessfully contesting her first parliamentary elections in 1984. In 1989, s ...

had resigned from the CM post after an arrest warrant was issued against her in the 1994 Hubli riot case by a Hubli court in Karnataka. Gaur became the

from 23 August 2004 to 29 November 2005 after her. In November 2005,

Shivraj Singh Chouhan Shivraj Singh Chouhan (also spelt Chauhan; ; born 5 March 1959) is an Indian politician who is serving as the 32nd Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and the 23rd Minister of Rural Development since 11 June 2024. Chouhan served as th ...

succeeded Gaur as the CM.

Council of Ministers

Gaur was sworn in as Minister for Commerce, Industries, Commercial Taxes, Employment, Public Undertakings and Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation in Shivraj Singh Chouhan's Council of Ministers on 20 December 2008. Gaur was elected to 14th Vidhan Sabha from Govindpura constituency in year 2013. He took oath as Cabinet Minister on 21 December 2013.

Personal life and death

Gaur had two daughters and a son with wife Prem Devi. Prem Devi had already died and their son Purushottam died in 2004. He did not contest the State election in 2018 due to illness.

Krishna Gaur Krishna Gaur is an Indian politician serving as a Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly from December 2023. Elected from Govindpura constituency in the 2018 and 2023 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assemb ...

, his daughter-in-law, won Govindpura assembly seat (previously held by Gaur) in 2018 as a BJP candidate. On 7 August 2019, Gaur was admitted in Narmada hospital in

due to various age related diseases. He died on 21 August 2019 from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

References

External links

Dept. of Public Relations - Life Sketch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaur, Babulal 1929 births 2019 deaths Politicians from Bhopal Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh State cabinet ministers of Madhya Pradesh Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians Janata Party politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh MLAs 2003–2008 Leaders of the opposition in Madhya Pradesh People from Uttar Pradesh People from Pratapgarh district, Uttar Pradesh Vikram University alumni