Kamal Nath (born 18 November 1946) is an Indian politician who served as the 18th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for approximately 15 months and resigned after a

political crisis Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly from March 2020 to April 2022. As a leader of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

he has served as the Minister of Urban Development. He is one of the longest serving and most senior members of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

, the lower house of India's

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gro ...

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

. He was appointed the

Pro Tem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

Speaker of the

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 M ...

. He has been elected nine times from the Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

.Profile at Parliament of India website
Nath was elected president of the

Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) is the Pradesh Congress Committee (state wing) of the Indian National Congress (INC) serving in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Current President of MPCC is Kamal Nath. Structure and composition Madh ...

in May 2018, leading the party in the November–December 2018 assembly election. He assumed the office of Chief Minister on 17 December 2018 and resigned on 20 March 2020 due to lack of majority in government.

Early life

Kamal Nath was born in

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation ( help· info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military station ...

in a business family. His father Mahendra Nath Soni family' established firms involved with exhibition and distribution of films, publishing, trading power transmission. Kamal is an

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mod ...

. Later, he was graduated in

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, natio ...

from the St. Xavier's College, Kolkata.

Career

Political career

Shri Kamal Nath assumes the charge of the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi on May 24, 2004

Nath was first elected to the

7th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 7th Lok Sabha, (18 January 1980 – 31 December 1984) elected December 1979 – January 1980. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India nine sitting members from Rajya Sabha were el ...

in 1980. He was re-elected to the

8th Lok Sabha The 8th Lok Sabha ran from 31 December 1984 to 27 November 1989. Politicians were elected in December 1984, taking office by the end of the month. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the bicameral Parliament of India. 9 s ...

in 1984, the

9th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 9th Lok Sabha (2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991) elections in 22–26 November 1989. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. Twelve sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elec ...

in 1989, and the

10th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 10th Lok Sabha, (20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996) elected during 1991 Indian general election held during May–June 1991. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India, four sitting membe ...

in 1991. He was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers as Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment and Forests in June 1991. From 1995 to 1996 he served as Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Textiles. Nath was elected to the

12th Lok Sabha This is the list of members of the 12th Lok Sabha, (10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999) after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that di ...

in 1998 and the

13th Lok Sabha The 13th Lok Sabha (10 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–O ...

in 1999. From 2001 to 2004, he was the General Secretary of the

(INC). He was re-elected to the

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (17 May 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian Natio ...

in the

2004 elections 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

and served as Union Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Industry from 2004 to 2009. On 16 May 2009 he again won the elections from his constituency for the

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

and re-entered the Cabinet, this time as Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways. In 2011, as a result of a cabinet reshuffle, Nath replaced

Jaipal Reddy Sudini Jaipal Reddy (16 January 1942 – 28 July 2019) was an Indian politician who was the Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha of India for five terms. He represented the Chevella constituency of Telangana and was a member of the Indian Nat ...

to take on the role of Minister of Urban Development. In October 2012 Nath was confirmed to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in addition to his current role as Minister of Urban Development. In late 2012 Nath replaced

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the Indi ...

to help the

United Progressive Alliance United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a centre-left political alliance of predominantly left-leaning political parties in India. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single par ...

(UPA) government win a crucial debate on foreign direct investment in India (FDI). Nath also replaced Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh as an ''ex officio'' member of the Planning Commission in December 2012. From 4 to 5 June 2014 Kamal Nath was the only member to have taken the official oath as a member of the newly elected 16th Lok Sabha, and was made the Pro Tem Speaker. The first day of the Lok Sabha, on which the Pro Tem Speaker normally administers the oath to all other elected members, was interrupted by the death of Union Cabinet Minister of Rural Development

Gopinath Munde Gopinath Pandurang Munde (12 December 1949 – 3 June 2014) was an Indian politician from Maharashtra. A popular Leader in Maharashtra called a Lokneta. He was a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Union Minister for Rural a ...

. The House was adjourned after paying tribute to Munde and observing a two-minute silence. Since no other elected member had taken the oath that day, they were not officially members of parliament. On 13 December 2018, Kamal Nath was elected as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh after the INC emerged as the single largest party with 114 seats. On 28 April 2022, Kamal Nath stepped down from his position as Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

Political associations

Kamal Nath is a member of the INC (Indian National Congress) political party and served as general secretary from 2001 to 2004. Nath has close ties with the Nehru–Gandhi family, being young friends and schoolmates with Sanjay at the Doon School, an independent boarding school located in

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislativ ...

Business career

Kamal Nath serves as president of the board of governors for The Institute of Management Technology (IMT) a management institution. He is Chairman of "Madhya Pradesh Child Development Council" and Patron to the Bharat Yuvak Samaj (Youth Wing of All India Bharat Seva Samaj).

Political views

Economic development

Nath is a strong proponent of economic development in India. At the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

(WEF) Davos, Switzerland in 2011 Nath shared his views on improving market access for developing countries in the area of agriculture stating India's applied tariffs for exports in developed countries was very low. Nath claims that this is due to continued imports through schemes like EPCG (Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme) where tariffs are not levied.

Competing in the world market

Nath disagrees with the Trade

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations ...

outlook displayed among struggling countries and considers it to be the wrong response to a financial crisis. He has pushed for stronger international co-operation in India, such as expanding on Indo-German relations. Nath stated for a mutually beneficial relationship with Germany to exist it must rely on using both countries' manufacturing strengths. He outlined focus areas of production including telecom, engineering, environmental technology, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food processing, and renewable energy. Kamal Nath describes India's entrepreneurial spirit and the countries' potential for global commerce growth in his book ''India's Century''.

Kamal Nath on infrastructure development

Nath emphasises the need for infrastructure development in India with projects like the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, a 90 billion dollars industrial development project. The DMIC proposes major expansion of infrastructure and industry and aims to develop an industrial zone across six states in India. Within the first five years of the project expectations are set at doubling employment potential, tripling industrial output, and quadrupling exports from the region.

Public–private partnership (PPP)

Kamal Nath advocates a PPP model on completing such ambitious projects like the DMIC and other infrastructure development projects. He references success with PPP models implemented in India's Metro operations.

Positions held

Controversies

Rice export accusations

In 2007, during Kamal Nath's tenure as Commerce minister, an Empowered Group of Ministers that included Nath,

, and

Sharad Pawar Sharad Govindrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: �əɾəd̪ pəʋaːɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. He has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on four occasions. He has held the posts of Minister of Defence and Mini ...

helped lift a ban on the export of non-basmati rice. It was alleged that PSUs involved in export of this rice to Africa outsourced the efforts to domestic private companies. It is claimed that the private companies made large profits while the PSUs reported small margins. He was charge sheeted in the Hawala scandal and denied a ticket by the Congress itself in 1996, wherein he made his wife

Alka Nath Alka Nath (born 24 November 1951) is a political and social worker and a former member of parliament elected from the Chhindwara constituency in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh as an Indian National Congress candidate. Early life Alka was ...

stand for elections from the Chhindwara (Lok Sabha constituency).

1984 Anti Sikh Genocide

On 1 November 1984, a day after Indira Gandhi's assassination, anti Sikh Massacre broke out in Delhi as a result of which at least 2,733 people were killed by mobs.

Nanavati commission The Justice G.T. Nanavati commission was a one-man commission headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India, appointed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in May 2000, to investigate the "k ...

led by a retired Judge of the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India (IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

investigated the riots some 25 years after it happened but were unable to find surviving evidence. The commission found that the allegations of his involvement lacked sufficient evidence as of 2008–09. Nath was not charged and he later stated that he was "fully absolved" by the Nanavati Commission.

2019 Income Tax Raid

The

Income Tax Department The Income Tax Department (also referred to as IT Department or ITD) is a government agency undertaking direct tax collection of the government of India. It functions under the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance. The Income Tax De ...

, an Indian government agency, conducted inspections at the properties of relatives and aides of CM Kamal Nath in April 2019. The agency claimed detecting about in unaccounted cash, including paid to the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

headquarters in Delhi through

hawala Hawala or hewala ( ar, حِوالة , meaning ''transfer'' or sometimes ''trust''), also known as in Persian, and or in Somali, is a popular and informal value transfer system based on the performance and honour of a huge network of money ...

Kailash Vijayvargiya Kailash Vijayvargiya (born 13 May 1956) is an Indian politician serving as National General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party . He started his political career in the Indore Bharatiya Janata Party, and was the mayor of Indore, a six-time le ...

tweeted about the estimation of the detected illegal cash before the Central Board of Direct Taxes' statement on the raids, Kamal Nath's media coordinator Narender Saluja in turn said the raids were orchestrated to malign his party.

Misogynistic comments

While addressing a rally during the 2020 Madhya Pradesh By-Election, Nath referred to MP cabinet minister Imarti Devi as ' Item' (colloquially considered as a sexually provocative word/ objectification of women). His comments were heavily criticised by several leaders and activists. The

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 ...

and the

National Commission for Women The National Commission for Women (NCW) is the statutory body of the Government of India, generally concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women. It was established on 31 January 1992 under the provisions of the I ...

approached to the

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, dir ...

to complain about the derogatory remarks against the Scheduled Caste candidate and demanded to ban him from campaigning during the by-polls. On 30 October 2020, the

revoked the star campaigner status of Kamal Nath citing repeated violation of Model Code of Conduct while campaigning for the elections.

Personal life

Kamal Nath was born in 1946 In Kanpur to Mahendra Nath and Lila Nath. He has two sister, Anita Puri and Rita Jolly. He married

on 27 January 1973 and has two sons, Nakul Nath and Bakul Nath. The family has owned several successful businesses including real estate, aviation, plantations and hospitality. Alka Nath and Nakul Nath have both been elected to India's parliament.

Awards and recognition

* In 2006 Kamal Nath received an Honorary Doctorate from Jabalpur's Rani Durgavati University for his contributions to the public sector. * Kamal Nath was named the ''FDI Personality of the Year 2007'' by the FDI magazine and

the Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

Business for his "Active efforts to attract foreign businesses to India, boost exports, and promote trade and investment". * In 2008 he was honoured with the title "Business Reformer of the year" by

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language b ...

. * In November 2012, he received the "ABLF Statesman Award" at the Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards 2012.

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India websiteAnti-Sikh riots: Eyewitness testimonies named Kamal Nath, Nanavati panel said not possible to indict him
Indian Express, 18 December 2018 , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nath, Kamal 1946 births Living people Indian National Congress politicians People from Madhya Pradesh The Doon School alumni India MPs 2004–2009 Members of the Cabinet of India People from Chhindwara St. Xavier's College, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2009–2014 Lok Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh India MPs 2014–2019 Pro tem Speakers of the Lok Sabha Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh Commerce and Industry Ministers of India Madhya Pradesh MLAs 2018–2023