Nihalchand

Nihal Chand (born 4 February 1971) is an Indian politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been elected as a Member of Parliament four times from the Ganganagar constituency.[2] He is also known as Nihalchand Chauhan and Nihalchand Meghwal.

Nihalchand

MP
Union Minister of State Ministry of Panchayati Raj
In office
9 November 2014 – 5 July 2015
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Union Minister of State, Chemical and Fertiliser Minister
In office
26 May 2014 – 9 November 2014
Member of Parliament
for Ganganagar
Assumed office
May 2014
Preceded byBharat Ram Meghwal
Member of Parliament, 14th Lok Sabha
In office
2004–2009
ConstituencyGanganagar
Member of Parliament, 13th Lok Sabha
In office
1999–2004
ConstituencyGanganagar
Member of Parliament, 11th Lok Sabha
In office
1996–1998
ConstituencyGanganagar
Personal details
Born (1971-02-04) 4 February 1971
Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, India
CitizenshipIndian
Political partyBJP
Spouse(s)Jyoti Chauhan
Children1 son and 1 daughter
ParentsBega Ram, Surji Devi
EducationB.A.
OccupationAgriculturist
[1]

Early life

Nihal Chand was born in a Meghwal Scheduled Caste family. His father Bega Ram was a Swatantra Party MLA from Raisinghnagar.[3] He married Jyoti in 1992; the couple has two children.[1]

Political career

In 1995, at the age of 24, Nihal Chand was elected as the "Panchayat Director" of Nanuwala, Sardarpura Bika and Bagicha. He was also elected as the pradhan (chief) of the Raisinghnagar panchayat committee. In 1996, he became the youngest Member of Parliament (MP) from Rajasthan at the age of 25. He was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha (lower house of the Parliament of India) on a BJP ticket from Ganganagar. In the next general election in 1998, he was defeated by Shankar Pannu of Congress.[3]

After his defeat in the general election, Nihal Chand contested the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly elections. He was declared as BJP's candidate from Raisinghnagar. However, just before the elections, BJP formed an alliance with Haryana Rastriya Lokdal (HRLD), and gave that seat to HRLD. Nihal Chand was asked to withdraw his candidature, but he refused to do so. As a result, BJP expelled him.[3] Contesting on the BJP election symbol, Nihal Chand won the seat and became an MLA from Raisinghnagar.[4]

Subsequently, Nihal Chand won the 1999 and 2004 general elections from Ganganagar as a BJP candidate. In 2008, he lost the Assembly elections to Daulat Raj of Congress from Raisinghnagar by a margin of 5042 votes.[5] In 2009, he lost the general elections to Bharat Ram Meghwal of Congress. In 2014, he defeated Bhanwarlal Meghwal of Congress on the same seat. He served as a Minister of state (MOS) in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from May 2014 to July 2016.[6][3]

In 2011, Nihal Chand's name appeared as one of the 17 accused in a police FIR. The complainant, a woman from Sirsa, Haryana, alleged that her husband Om Prakash Godara had drugged her and then let his associates rape her in Jaipur. After a year of investigation, the police closed the case in 2012, calling the charges as false and fabricated. The woman approached the trial court, which accepted the police report and dismissed the protest petition filed by her. The woman then approached the district court, which also dismissed the charges. In 2014, a few days after Nihal Chand was made the minister, the complainant went in for revision, following which the district court issued notices to Nihal Chand and 16 others, asking them to respond to the court.[7] This caused a controversy, with the opposition party Congress demanding Nihal Chand's resignation.[8] BJP refused to oblige, pointing out that Nihalchand was given a "clean chit" in the case when Congress was in power in Rajasthan.[9]

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References
  1. "Fourteenth Lok Sabha Members: Bioprofile". Parliament of India. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  2. "Portfolios of the Union Council of Ministers". PM office. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  3. Ram Prakash Meel (27 May 2014). "Nihalchand: Once youngest MP, now a minister". Hindustan Times.
  4. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1998 to The Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  5. "Statistical Report on General Election, 2008 to The Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  6. "Najma Heptulla, G M Siddeshwara resign from Modi Cabinet", India Today, 12 July 2016
  7. "Court notice to Union minister Nihal Chand in 4-year-old sexual assault case". Hindustan Times. 13 June 2014.
  8. "Congress Seeks Nihalchand Meghwal's Resignation Over Rape Allegation". NDTV. 13 June 2014.
  9. Biplob Ghosal (18 June 2014). "Woman allegedly raped by MoS Nihalchand seeks few minutes with PM Modi". Zee News.
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