Engineer, Maj Gen, Minister, CM : Khanduri's winsome journey

Dehra Dun, Sep 2 (UNI) Major General (Retd) Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, who has won the Dumakot Assembly bypoll today, led the BJP to victory in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections in February this year and was subsequently chosen to be the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

As per the Constitutional stipulation, Khanduri had to enter the Assembly within six months of taking over as the Chief Minister.

Born here on October 1, 1934, the 72-year-old former engineer was inducted into the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in November 2000 as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Road Transport and Highways, and was elevated to the cabinet rank in May 2003, holding the post till the NDA government lost the 2004 general elections.

During July-September 2003, he also held additional charge of the Urban Development and the Poverty Alleviation Ministry. During his time in the NDA government, he was commended for implementing the 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.

Maj Gen Khanduri 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.

He served in Corps of Engineers, Indian Army from 1954 to 1990.

In 1982, he was conferred Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) by the President of the country for distinguished services in the Indian Army.

After retirement, he joined politics and was elected to Lok Sabha from Garhwal in Uttarakhand in 1991 and in subsequent elections.

Married to Aruna in February 1964, he 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.

His runner-up in the 2004 Lok Sabha poll, T P S Rawat, resigned from Dhumakot seat with expectation of Khanduri to contest this seat. Rawat is subsequently expected to contest Khanduri's Lok Sabha seat. Earlier, independent MLA Rajendra Singh Bhandari had also offered to resign and make way for Khanduri.

Among Khanduri's first accomplishments as the Uttarakhand Chief Minister has been to cut expenses by reducing security to politicians and administrative officials, cutting back on their allowances for foreign trips and restricting the use of the Chief Minister's discretionary fund to only district magistrate-approved projects. Following his election, he toured all but one district of Uttarakhand to assess the peoples' concerns.

UNI