First General-rank officer to become CM of state

Dehradun, Mar (UNI) Ex-Army Engineer and veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, Maj Gen (retd) Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri will be the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, following the BJP's victory over the ruling Congress in the hill state's second-ever assembly election.

Maj Gen Khanduri was unanimously elected the leader of the BJP Legislature party.

However, the ex-Addl Director General in the Engineer-in-Chief's branch of the Indian Army will have to use all his managerial and technical skills to maintain the stability of his government, which is just short of a majority of its own, and will depend on outside support.

Commissioned into the Indian Army's Corps of Engineers in 1954, he served in a variety of important posts, both command and staff, during his military career, including command of his regiment in the 1971 war, and heading an Engineer Brigade. His staff appointments included a stint as Addl DG in the Military Secretary's Branch and ADG in the the Engineer-in-Chief's branch. He was conferred the AVSM in 2982.

Joining politics after his retirement in 1990, he was first elected to the 10th Lok Sabha from Pauri-Garhwal constituency in the 1991 election and retained the seat in 1998, 1999 and 2004 general elections. During his first three stints (1991-96, 1998-99 and 1999) in Parliament, he served as the party's Chief Whip. He served as party nominee on several important parliamentary committees including Committee on Public Accounts, Rules Committee, Business Advisory Commiittee and the Consultative Committee of the Defence Ministry.

Between 1992 and 1997, he was member of the party's National Executive and vice president of the UP state unit between 1996 and 1997. He was again a member of the Executive between 2000-03 and since August 2004.

Maj Gen Khanduri was inducted into the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government in November 2000 as Minister of State (Independent Charge), Road Transport and Highways, and was elevated to cabinet rank in May 2003, holding the post till the NDA government lost the 2004 general elections. Between July and September 2003, he also held additional charge of the Urban Development and the Poverty Alleviation Ministry. During his time in the government, he was commended for implementing thr NDA's prestigious National Highways Development project with efficiency and speed.

Retaining his seat in the 2004 elections, he again took over as party Chief Whip. He is chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, besides serving on the General Purposes Committee and the Business Advisory Committee.

Born in Dehradun on October 1, 1934, the 72-year-old former engineer was educated at the Allahabad University, the Pune-based College of Military Engineering and the Secunderabad-based College of Defence Management where he did the Long Defence Management Course.

Married to Aruna in February 1964, the couple has one son and one daughter. His interests include preservation of India's cultural heritage, the environment, social work, population control and defence. He is fond of reading and sports including tennis, hockey and squash.

UNI