New Delhi:
Pawan Kumar Bansal, who has quit as Union Railways Minister today following allegations about his involvement in a bribery scam, is a Congress veteran who won his first Lok Sabha election from Chandigarh in 1991.
The allegations against Mr Bansal came as a surprise since he has enjoyed a clean political image so far. After his nephew Vijay Singla was arrested last week for allegedly accepting a bribe to organise a plum posting for a senior official in the Railways, Mr Bansal was under immense pressure from the Opposition to quit.
His fate was perhaps sealed after Congress president Sonia Gandhi reportedly expressed her reservations about him continuing in government.
Mr Bansal was the Congress' first Railways Minister since 1996. Upon taking charge, he implemented long-pending fare hikes and responded to criticism by saying, "Indian Railways must remain financially sustainable," adding that scarcity of resources and a thin spread of funds continued to be a problem.
Before being made Railways Minister, Mr Bansal was Parliamentary Affairs Minister and Minister for Water Resources in the ruling UPA government. He was junior Finance Minister in the first government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whom he is said to be close to. Both hail from the same state, Punjab.
Chandigarh, to which he migrated at a young age, was Mr Bansal's political turf. The self-made, first-generation politician began his career as General Secretary, Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress in 1976. He later went on to become president of the youth wing of the Punjab Congress. He held that post for two years. He debuted in Parliament as a Rajya Sabha member in 1984.
Mr Bansal tasted electoral defeat in 1996 and 1998. He had faced a major challenge in 1999 when he barely managed to get the Congress ticket for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. Mr Bansal won by a slender margin of about 5,000 votes against BJP heavyweight Krishan Lal Sharma.
In his official bio as Member of Parliament, Mr Bansal lists education, environment, and electoral reforms as his special interests. He is widely travelled, and has represented various Indian parliamentary delegations in, among other countries, Zimababwe, Brazil, Cyprus, Malaysia, Romania, the United States, and Pakistan.
The 64-year-old traces his roots to Tapa, near Barnala in Punjab. He schooled in Patiala and holds a law degree from Punjab University. He is married to Madhu Bansal; they have two sons.
The allegations against Mr Bansal came as a surprise since he has enjoyed a clean political image so far. After his nephew Vijay Singla was arrested last week for allegedly accepting a bribe to organise a plum posting for a senior official in the Railways, Mr Bansal was under immense pressure from the Opposition to quit.
His fate was perhaps sealed after Congress president Sonia Gandhi reportedly expressed her reservations about him continuing in government.
Mr Bansal was the Congress' first Railways Minister since 1996. Upon taking charge, he implemented long-pending fare hikes and responded to criticism by saying, "Indian Railways must remain financially sustainable," adding that scarcity of resources and a thin spread of funds continued to be a problem.
Before being made Railways Minister, Mr Bansal was Parliamentary Affairs Minister and Minister for Water Resources in the ruling UPA government. He was junior Finance Minister in the first government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whom he is said to be close to. Both hail from the same state, Punjab.
Chandigarh, to which he migrated at a young age, was Mr Bansal's political turf. The self-made, first-generation politician began his career as General Secretary, Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress in 1976. He later went on to become president of the youth wing of the Punjab Congress. He held that post for two years. He debuted in Parliament as a Rajya Sabha member in 1984.
Mr Bansal tasted electoral defeat in 1996 and 1998. He had faced a major challenge in 1999 when he barely managed to get the Congress ticket for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. Mr Bansal won by a slender margin of about 5,000 votes against BJP heavyweight Krishan Lal Sharma.
In his official bio as Member of Parliament, Mr Bansal lists education, environment, and electoral reforms as his special interests. He is widely travelled, and has represented various Indian parliamentary delegations in, among other countries, Zimababwe, Brazil, Cyprus, Malaysia, Romania, the United States, and Pakistan.
The 64-year-old traces his roots to Tapa, near Barnala in Punjab. He schooled in Patiala and holds a law degree from Punjab University. He is married to Madhu Bansal; they have two sons.
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