Shimla, February 01: One of the prominent faces of Himachal Pradesh politics, former BJP MP and three-time minister Kishan Kapoor has passed away. Kishan Kapoor breathed his last at PGI Chandigarh on Saturday. His death is a big loss for the state. He was a senior leader and important member of the state BJP, whose political career spanned several decades.
Kishan Kapoor started his political journey with the Bharatiya Janata Party and increased the honor of his party in the Lok Sabha elections. He won three times as an MP from Dharamshala on a BJP ticket. Apart from this, he was also a minister of the state and took charge of various important departments. Kishan Kapoor was a prominent name in Indian politics, who made his mark in the politics of the state for a long time while being associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a Lok Sabha member from Kangra Lok Sabha constituency and won the 2019 general elections by a record margin of four lakh 77 thousand votes.
This victory was the second highest vote percentage in the whole country, in which he had secured 72.2% votes. Kishan Kapoor held several important ministries in the Himachal Pradesh government. He served as the Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs. Apart from this, he served as MLA five times from Dharamshala Assembly constituency and three times as a Cabinet Minister. His political journey spanned several decades, in which he played an important role in the politics of the state and the country.
Kishan Kapoor’s political career started in 1970 with Jan Sangh and Janata Party. In 1978, he served as Yuva Morcha Secretary and joined BJP when it was formed in 1980. From 1982 to 1984, he was the BJP Mandal President in Dharamshala. In 1985, he contested his first election as a BJP candidate from Dharamshala Assembly. After this, he served as the Chief Whip of the Assembly from 1993-1997 after winning the election from Dharamshala Assembly for three consecutive times.
In 1998, he became the state Minister of Transport, Tribal Development, Printing and Law. In 2003 and 2012, he lost from Dharamshala Assembly, but in 2007 he won again and became the Minister of Transport, Urban Development, Housing and Town Planning. In 2009, he was given charge of the ministries of Industry, Labor and Employment and Sainik Welfare. Kishan Kapoor won for the fifth time from Dharamshala Assembly in 2017 and again became the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs.
In 2019, he became an MP for the first time as a BJP candidate from Kangra Lok Sabha and won with record votes. Kishan Kapoor’s leadership and dedication in politics was unmatched and his demise is a big loss for the politics of Himachal Pradesh. BJP leaders have described his demise as an irreparable loss to the politics of the state. Many leaders and party workers have expressed condolences to console his family and close friends in this hour of grief.