Nathuram Mirdha - Differences With Indira Gandhi

Differences With Indira Gandhi

Nathuram Mirdha developed differences with Indira Gandhi in 1975 during emergency period. He left the National Congress and joined Lok Dal Party under the leadership of Choudhary Charan Singh. Nathuram Mirdha, then of the Congress, won the 1971 and 1977 elections. He retained the seat for the Congress-Urs in 1980, and in 1984 kinsman Ram Niwas Mirdha of the Congress defeated him. In 1985 he was leader of Lok Dal in Rajasthan assembly. It was with his efforts and strategy that made Lok Dal party a national level organization. He was state president of Lok Dal Party in 1988. In 1989, contesting on the Janata Dal ticket, Nathuram defeated Ram Niwas.

By 1991 he had joined the Congress, for which party he won the seat in 1991 and 1996. Nathuram Mirdha joined Congress in 1991 after a period of fourteen years. He was also the Deputy Leader of the Congress-I Parliamentary Party till 1996. In 1996 he got elected to Lok Sabha with a huge majority. That his popularity was undiminished can be seen from the 1996 result: he defeated his BJP rival H Kumawat by almost 160,000 votes. However, he died soon after. In the by-election that followed Nathuram Mirdha's death, the BJP fielded his son Bhanu Prakash Mirdha, a newcomer to politics, and took the seat from the Congress (I).

He was Minister of State for Irrigation, Finance, Food and Civil Supplies and Chairman of many important Parliamentary Committees. He rendered service to the cause of the farmers, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections of the society. A lawyer by profession, he also rendered service in the field of education by establishing many educational institutions and Hostels.