Former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar, who passed away in Delhi this morning after a prolonged illness, stood tall among fellow political leaders in the country. He never looked back to state politics once he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ferozepur in 1980.
After Emergency when there was a wave of resentment against Indira Gandhi, Balram Jakhar invited her to an impressive rally in Abohar. He delivered an emotional speech, won over Indira’s trust and became a part of her inner circle.
He was elected to the Punjab Assembly for the first time in 1972 and again in 1977 when he was made Leader of the Opposition. He was made Deputy Minister for Irrigation and Cooperation in the Giani Zail Singh Government in 1972. He remained Governor of Madhya Pradesh from June 2004 to May 2009.
A prosperous farmer, Jakhar was Lok Sabha Speaker from 1980 to 1989 and Union Agriculture Minister in the Narasimha Rao government. He was a strong votary of farmers’ rights, recalls Congress leader Jagmeet Brar, whose father had close ties with Jakhar.
Fondly addressed as “Chaudhary”, Balram Jakhar studied at Forman Christian College, Lahore, where he graduated in Sanskrit (Honour). When Haryana was formed, Jakhar stood firmly with Punjab and the cause of Punjabis, vehemently opposing the transfer of villages in the Abohar belt to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas.
Balram Jakhar will be remembered as among the tallest Jat leaders such as the late Chaudhary Devi Lal and Chaudhary Charan Singh. Wedded to development, he took the canal waters to remote areas of Abohar and Fazilka and ensured potable water and better train services for residents of the area.
For promoting citrus fruit farming, he was honoured with ‘Udyan Pandit’ award. Balram Jakhar’s ancestors had migrated from Sikar in Rajasthan to Panjkosi village near Abohar and he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Sikar in 1991. He was the first Asian to be elected chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentarian Executive Forum.
