Jai Narayan Poonia (1934 – 7 November 2021) was a Cabinet Minister and leader of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

in India. He served as Minister of Public Works.

Early life and education

He was born in village Lakhlan Choti of district Churu in Rajasthan, into the family of Choudhary Jagmal Poonia of the Hindu

Jat The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in l ...

clan. He was married to Manbhari Devi. Poonia graduated from Government High School Sangria with First Division. He completed law school and started his career as an advocate in Rajgarh district court.

Political career

Poonia entered elections from the Sadulpur Constituency in Rajasthan in 1977 as Janata Party candidate and became PWD Minister. In 1985 he became MLA from Tara Nagar. He was the runner-up in 2003 and 1998 polls. He was a member of the

Indian National Lok Dal The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is a political party based primarily in the Indian state of Haryana. It was initially founded as the Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) by Devi Lal in 1996, who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India. The ...

party (INLD). In the 1998 polls, he secured almost 45% votes for this seat. His popularity declined and in 2003, he secured only 33%. In both the elections he was defeated by

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 ...

candidates. In western terms, he can be roughly categorized as a populist agrarian leader who is ready to adopt a market economy for the benefit of the "kissan" or peasant. 1977-80: Member of

Rajasthan Legislative Assembly The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, also known as the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha, is the unicameral legislature of the state of Rajasthan. It is a vital part of the state government, responsible for making and implementing laws. The assembly meets ...

(MLA)

Sadulpur Sadulpur, natively known as Rajgarh is a city, municipality, tehsil and Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly seat in Churu district of northern part of Rajasthan States and territories of India, state in India. It was the t ...

Churu

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Members of the legislative assembly are often directly elected to serve fiv ...

for the

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 ...

. 1978-80: Cabinet Minister in Rajasthan. He oversaw departments including Public Welfare Department(PWD), Disaster Management and Flood management. 1980-89: State Vice President of

in Rajasthan. 1985-90: Member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (MLA)

Taranagar Taranagar is a city and a municipality in Churu district in the Indian state of Rajasthan, situated at 28° 41'N 75° 3'E, about 28 miles south of Churu City. Taranagar was earlier known as Reni, named for the lady Rinkali who came here to liv ...

Churu

for the

. 1990-98: State Vice President of

Janata Dal Janata Dal () was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha on 11 October 1988—the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Na ...

in Rajasthan. 2003-2008: State President of

in Rajasthan. 2013- Won the state assembly election from Taranagar constituency contesting on BJP ticket by 11,136 votes

Death

He died on 7 November 2021 due to a cardiac arrest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poonia, Jai Narayan 1934 births 2021 deaths State cabinet ministers of Rajasthan Rajasthani people People from Churu district Janata Party politicians Janata Dal politicians Indian National Lok Dal politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Rajasthan