Sunset at Noon

Pramod Mahajan: An eventful life

Shri Pramod Mahajan was born on October 30, 1949 to Shri Venkatesh Devidas Mahajan and Smt. Prabhavati Venkatesh Mahajan in Mahaboobnagar, Andhra Pradesh. He graduated in B.Sc. (Physics) and went on to complete M.A. (Political Science) and B.A. (Journalism). He studied at Yogeshwari Mahavidyalaya, Beed, Ranade Institute for Journalism,University of Pune and University of Aurangabad. He appeared in the examinations through Nasik Road Central Prison during the Emergency of 1975.

Following is a brief chronology of main events in his life:

1970:	Joined Tarun Bharat as sub-editor.
1971:	Became a school teacher in Kholeshwar Vidyalaya.
1973 :	Entered politics and participated in an anti-government movement.
1974:	Left his job to devote all his time to RSS activities.
1975-77:	Jailed for almost the entire period of Emergency at Nasik Road Central Prison in Maharashtra. He came to the notice of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee at a rally after the end of Emergency.
1980:	Appointed Maharashtra State BJP General Secretary.
1983:	Appointed National Secretary of BJP.
1986:	Appointed National President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). He was also elected to Rajya Sabha for the first time.
1990:	Given the responsibility of Shri L. K. Advani’s Ram Rath Yatra and appointed National President of BJYM again.
1992:	Appointed National General Secretary of BJP again, a post he held till 1998. Elected for second term in Rajya Sabha.
1994-96:	Appointed Chairman of Committee on Transport and Tourism.
1995:	Instrumental in forging BJP-Shiv Sena alliance which formed the Government in Maharashtra.
1996:	Won the Lok Sabha seat from Mumbai and appointed Defence Minister in the first NDA Government led by Shri Vajpayee.
1998:	Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee appoints him as Political Advisor in April and he was elected to Rajya Sabha for the third time in July. In December, he was inducted into the Cabinet as Minister Information and Broadcasting with additional charge of Food Processing Industries till October 1999.
1999:	Appointed Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources in October 1999 till 29th January 2003. He relinquished the charge of Water Resources Ministry in November 1999 and was made Minister of Information Technology, a portfolio he retained till January 2003.
2001:	Appointed Minister of Communications in September and he retained that portfolio till January 2003.
2003:	Appointed National General Secretary of BJP. He successfully steered party to power in Rajasthan. In February was also appointed as Member, Committee on Home Affairs for one year.
2004:	Elected to Rajya Sabha for the fourth time. Appointed as Member, Committee on Defence.
2005:	Successfully organised BJP’s massive Rajat Jayanti National Convention in Mumbai.
2006:	Appointed National General Secretary by the new BJP President Shri Rajnath Singh. Given charge of Maharashtra, Goa, Assam and Uttaranchal.

Pramodji was a dedicated swayamsevak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since childhood and completed his second year Sangh Shiksha Varg. A hardworking activist of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, he continued to work as a full-time activist for Jana Sangh till he was given more responsibilities after Bharatiya Janata Party was formed in 1980.

In the course of his ministerial duties Pramodji had travelled extensively abroad covering Europe, America, China, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Africa, South America and West Asia.

A multi-faceted personality, Pramodji’s favourite pastime was listening to music and reading. A voracious reader, he made it a point to read all newspapers carefully every morning to keep track of what was going on in the country.

Married on March 11, 1972, Pramodji is survived by his wife Smt. Rekha Mahajan, son Rahul and daughter Poonam.