Motilal Vora (20 December 1928 – 21 December 2020) was an Indian politician belonging to 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 ...

(INC). He served as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (1985–1988; 1989). He was born in Nimbi Jodha, Jodhpur State, British India. He was also Governor of Uttar Pradesh from 1993 to 1996.

Early life

Vora was born on 20 December 1928 at Nimbi Jodha in Jodhpur State of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

Rajputana Agency The Rajputana Agency was a political office of the British Raj, British Indian Empire dealing with a collection of native states in Rajputana (now in Rajasthan, northwestern India), under the political charge of an Agent reporting directly to ...

(present-day Nagaur district,

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 ...

) to a Pushkarna

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family. His parents were Mohanlal Vora and Amba Bai. His forefathers came from Nimbi Jodha, and prior to that from Phalodi. He received his education at Raipur and

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. He had also worked with several newspapers for many years. He married Shanti Devi Vora. The couple have four daughters and two sons. His son Arun Vora is an MLA from Durg (CG), having won three elections as MLA. His brother Govindlal Vora was Veteran Journalist and Chief Editor of Amrit Sandesh. His nephew Rajeev Vora is Secretary of Pragati College of Engineering and Management, Raipur.

State politics

In 1968, Vora, then, a member of

Samajwadi party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

, became a member of the Municipal Committee of Durg (then part of Madhya Pradesh). In 1970 (approximately), he, with the help of Prabhat Tiwari, was introduced to Pt. Kishorilal Shukla of INC and joined INC. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly (

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 ...

) of Madhya Pradesh in 1972 on an INC ticket. He was elected to Vidhan Sabha again in 1977 and 1980. He was appointed a minister of State in Arjun Singh's Cabinet, and was in-charge of the Higher Education Department. He was elevated to the Cabinet Minister in 1983. He also served as the Deputy Chairman of Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation during 1981–84. On 13 March 1985, Vora was appointed Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. He resigned from the post of Chief Minister on 13 February 1988, to join the Union Government.

National politics

On 14 February 1988, Vora became a member of the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

, and assumed the office of Union Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Civil Aviation. He was a cabinet minister in

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. He was appointed Governor of Uttar Pradesh on 16 May 1993 and held office until 3 May 1996. Motilal Vora was in 1998–99 Member of the 12th Lok Sabha.

Role in the Indian National Congress

Vora was very close to High Command of INC, and has supported nomination of Rahul Gandhi as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate. In the 1980s, he served as the President of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, the party's state unit. Vora held important positions in all the three entities involved in the National Herald Case: the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the Young Indian and the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from States and union territories of India, state-level Pradesh Congress Commit ...

(AICC). He became the chairman and managing director of AJL on 22 March 2002. He served as the AICC treasurer before that. He was a 12% shareholder and a Director of Young Indian.

Death

Vora died from complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of , according to Indian government ...

, one day after his 92nd birthday.Congress veteran Motilal Vora dies at 93 of post-Covid complications
/ref>

References

External links

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vora, Motilal 1928 births 2020 deaths Followers of Sathya Sai Baba Chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh Governors of Uttar Pradesh People from Nagaur Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1985–1990 Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha members from Chhattisgarh India MPs 1998–1999 Lok Sabha members from Chhattisgarh Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Civil aviation ministers of India Indian National Congress politicians from Madhya Pradesh Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India People from Rajnandgaon