From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Kalpnath Rai
Kalpnath Rai
Shri Kalpnath Rai was a member Rajya Sabha from Kalpanath Rai was elected to the Rajya Sabha from
1974-80, 1980-86, 1986-92 and represented Ghosi four Uttar Pradesh in 1974 and had two other terms in the
times to the Lok Sabha, he was also Minister in various same House. He was also elected to the Lok Sabha four
Congress (I) ministries at the centre and was a senior times from Ghosi. In the last Lok Sabha, Rai was elected
Congress Leader. on a Samata Party ticket but he resigned from the party
and rejoined the Congress.[4]
Biography Known for his blunt and colourful language, Rai had
good support in Ghosi which returned him to the Lok
Born on January 4, 1941, in Semari Jamalpur village of Sabha in 1996 even after he was arrested under TADA for
Mau district UP, Kalpnath Rai is credited of giving Mau sheltering criminals in a government guest house.
the status of a district during his days as an MP from Kalpanath Rai began his career in 1963 as general sec-
Ghosi.[1] retary of the Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha, UP. Rai, who did
In 1993-1994 he was minister of state for food and be- his M.A (English and Sociology) and LLB from Gorakhpur
came controversial due to the sugar scam involving his University, was a member of the CPP executive commit-
ministry. He was jailed in connection with the scam but tee between 1974-76 and its general secretary in 1978.
was later acquitted. Rai’s stint as a union minister began in 1982 when he
In 1997, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison with a was made a minister of state in the Indira Gandhi gov-
fine of Rs 1 million by a Terrorist And Disruptive Activi- ernment and continued till 1984. From June 1988 to De-
ties (Prevention) Act court in Delhi. He was convicted for cember 1989, he was minister of state for Power and after
the crime of harbouring members of the Dawood Ibrahim being elected to the 10th Lok Sabha, he was again made
gang. The court also sentenced three members of the Da- minister of state for Power and non-conventional energy
wood Ibrahim gang - Subhash Singh Thakur, Jayendra sources with independent charge.
Thakur and Shyam Garikapatti - who fled to Delhi after In 1993-1994 he was minister of state for food and be-
a shootout at Bombay’s JJ Hospital in September 1992, to came controversial due to the sugar scam involving his
life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 million each [2]. ministry. He was jailed in connection with the scam but
According to the CBI chargesheet, Kalpnath Rai, the was later acquitted.
then federal power minister, had through his assistant S In Ghosi, Kalpnath Rai was considered one of the
P Rai arranged accommodation for Subhash Thakur and most strong leaders. In 1991, he was one of the rare Con-
V N Rai (Rai’s nephew) at the guest houses of the National gressmen who survived the mandal-mandir upheavals
Thermal Power Corporation in Delhi and Bombay Subur- that uprooted the party in Uttar Pradesh; in 1996, when
ban Electricity Supply at Mumbai around the time of the imprisoned under TADA, he won as an Independent from
shootout at the JJ Hospital. jail; in his last election he fought the elections from the
Dawood’s hitmen, who were convicted, were involved Samata Party but still went on to win the elections. Kal-
in the shootout. The bills for the NTPC rooms were paid panath Rai had been highly active in the development
by the corporation itself. and promotion of his home town Mau. Meanwhile Rai is
not averse to some theatre. Voice quivering with emo-
Death tion, he made dramatic promises saying, "Jis maa ka doo-
dh piya hai uski kasam khata hoon (I swear on my moth-
He died in 6th of August 1999, aged 58. Rai suffered a mas- er’s milk)." Later he delivers a punchline borrowed from
sive heart attack on Thursday night following which he Laloo Yadav: "Tumre gaon ki sadakwa Hema malini ke
was admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where galwa jaise chikna (Your roads will be as smooth as Hema
he died at 2.45 am. He is survived by his widow, a son and Malini’s cheeks)."
four daughters.[3]
References
Political Career [1] "History of MAU". Article (Mau, UP).
A frontrunner from Ghosi, Uttar Pradesh,Kalpanath Rai http://mau.nic.in/History.html.
was an AICC general secretary in the Indira Gandhi [2] "Kalpnath Rai jailed for 10 years". News.
regime and a minister in the Narasimha Rao government. http://www.rediff.com/news/mar/17rai.htm.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Kalpnath Rai
[3] "Kalpnath Rai passes away". Newspaper (New Delhi). Alternative names
6-8-1999. http://www.financialexpress.com/old/
Short description
ie/daily/19990807/ige07034.html.
[4] "Kalpnath Rai comes to roost in Congress". Date of birth
Newspaper (New Delhi). 11-5-1999. Place of birth
http://www.indianexpress.com/Storyold/96907/. Date of death 1999
Persondata Place of death
Name Rai, Kalpnath
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kalpnath_Rai&oldid=452146884"
Categories:
• People from Mau
• Indian National Congress politicians
• 9th Lok Sabha members
• 10th Lok Sabha members
• 11th Lok Sabha members
• 12th Lok Sabha members
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• 1999 deaths
• Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University alumni
• Indian National Congress politician stubs
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