Gaur - the 'bulldozer' minister who went on to become CM

BJP veteran Babulal Gaur, who started his career as a trade unionist, went on to become one of the party's tallest figures in Madhya Pradesh, holding several key positions, including that of the chief minister, during his decades long political career.

A leader well respected not only in the BJP but also among other parties, Gaur, 89, died on Wednesday morning in Bhopal after prolonged illness.

During his long political stint, he served as the state Home minister and also held several other portfolios in the BJP-led state governments.

In early 1990s, Gaur, who was then the state urban development minister, shot into limelight when he got the encroachments in the old city area of Bhopal razed with the help of bulldozers, despite strong protest by the Congress.

 

The action earned him the tag of being the 'bulldozer minister'.

Though a large number of Muslims lost their dwellings following Gaur's anti-encroachment drive, his popularity among the community members did not wane.

He also opposed the construction of temples on encroached land in the state capital.

He political stature was such that he was respected not only by his own partymen, but also by leaders cutting across party lines.

About a month back, state Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath got him airlifted to Delhi for his medical treatment and also visited him recently when the BJP veteran was hospitalised here.

Though he hung up his boots last year, Gaur, an OBC (other backward class) leader who was Madhya Pradesh chief minister from 2004 to 2005 and represented his traditional Govindpura Vidhan Sabha seat 10 times, took keen interest in politics before he slipped into a semi-comatose state.

After two BJP MLAs voted for a Congress-backed bill in the state Assembly last month, he told some journalists, "Nathji is more of a manager than a leader."

Born on June 2, 1930 at Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh, Gaur emerged as a powerful and popular leader in Madhya Pradesh, initially as a trade union leader and later as MLA.

With the backing of the Jana Sangh, the RSS activist defeated trade union leader and Congress candidate Mohan Lal Asthana during the pre-Emergency build up against Indira Gandhi.

He was subsequently roped in by the then newly formed Janata Party.

In the next Assembly election, Gaur fought from Govindpura - the constituency that houses the state-run engineering firm Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) - which he represented till last year.

He rose to prominence in early 1990s, when he was the urban development minister in the state Cabinet headed by Sunderlal Patwa.

In 2016, he was dropped as minister from the state Cabinet led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan due to old age. Later, his relations with Chouhan soured.

Gaur was a disciplined BJP leader and before being hospitalised, he used to say that he resigned as the state chief minister in 2005 to pave way for Chouhan, after party patriarch L K Advani rang him up, asking him to step down.

Last year, he pushed for his daughter-in-law Krishna Gaur's nomination as the BJP candidate from the family pocket borough of Govindpura, which he represented for decades.

Krishna Gaur later she got the ticket and won from the seat.