Shai0778 at 17:02, 15 August 2025

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{{Short description|Indian politician (1903–1979)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
'''Bal Krishna Kaul''' (18 June 1903 – 1979) was an Indian politician, an [[Indian National Congress]] worker, and an active participant of the struggle for Indian independence. He spent almost six years in jails during the struggle against British rule in India. After independence, he served as the Home and Finance Minister of [[Ajmer State]] 1952–1956 and later as Finance, Excise and Taxation Minister in the [[Rajasthan]] state government 1962–1967. He was a member of the [[Rajya Sabha]] (upper chamber of the [[Parliament of India]]) 1968–1974.

==Childhood==
Kaul was born in [[Moradabad]] on 18 June 1903.<ref name=rsbio/><ref name=glance/><ref name=rswho71/> Kaul was the son of Iqbal Krishna Kaul.<ref name=rsbio/><ref name=rswho71/>

==Political work in UP, Punjab and Ajmer==
Bal Krishna Kaul entered politics in 1920, becoming a disciple of [[Lala Lajpat Rai]].<ref name=who2/><ref name=rswho71/> He was politically active in [[Ferozpur]], in the organization led by Mahatma Nandgopal.<ref name=who2/> [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], in his capacity as [[Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee|UPCC]] general secretary, requested Kaul move to the [[United Provinces (1937–1950)|United Provinces]].<ref name=who2/> In December 1921 Kaul was arrested at [[Sikandrabad]].<ref name=who2/> He would spend more than a year in jail, being held in [[Bulandshahar]], [[Aligarh]], [[Agra]] and [[Lucknow]].<ref name=who2/> He went on hunger strike in jail for 22 days.<ref name=rswho71/> After his release from jail, he was an active [[Indian National Congress]] worker in [[Allahabad]] and [[Meerut]].<ref name=who2>''[https://www.google.at/books/edition/Rajasthan_Year_Book_Who_s_who/PoceAQAAIAAJ Rajasthan Year Book & Who's who, Vol. 8]''. 1969. p. 9</ref> Kaul studied up to [[Bachelor of Arts]] in [[Meerut]].<ref name=glance/><ref>Sir Stanley Reed. ''[https://books.google.at/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&id=G5AjAQAAMAAJ Indian and Pakistan Year Book and Who's who]''. Times of India Press, 1956. p. 1052</ref>

Kaul moved to [[Ajmer]] in 1930.<ref name=who2/><ref name=rswho71/> There he was employed at the Branch Manager of the Lakshmi Insurance Company Ltd.<ref name=who2/><ref name=rswho71/> Kaul was imprisoned during the [[Salt March|1930–1931 civil disobedience movement]].<ref name=who2/> He was a member of the [[All India Congress Committee]] (1930–1941) and the Rajputana and Central India Provincial Congress Committee.<ref name=who2/> He married Vishnumaya Kaul on 24 January 1935, the couple would go on to have two sons and two daughters.<ref name=rsbio/><ref name=rswho71/>

==Satyagraha, Quit India movement and years in jail==
In 1940, he undertook individual [[satyagraha]], the first Congress leader in Ajmer to do so.<ref name=who2/> He was arrested.<ref name=glance/> He was again arrested during the [[Quit India]] movement of 1942, and held at Ajmer Jail for nearly 3 years (bringing his total time in jails to around six years).<ref name=who2/><ref name=rswho71/> Kaul was sentenced to three months of hard labour for non-compliance with the rule for getting finger prints of political prisoners.<ref name=rswho71/> In protest, he undertook a hunger strike.<ref name=kssa>{{cite book | first=K. S. | last=Saxena | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wUoMAAAAIAAJ | title=The Political Movements and Awakening in Rajasthan, 1857 to 1947 | publisher=S. Chand | date=1971 | page=235}}</ref> The Chief Commissioner, Ajmer refused Kaul's wife permission to see her husband during the hunger strike.<ref name=kssa/> After 22 days Kaul abandoned the hunger strike at the advice of [[Mahatma Gandhi]], after which the authorities allowed his wife and family members to see him.<ref name=who2/>

In 1945, Kaul was elected as a member of the Ajmer Municipal Board.<ref name=who3/><ref name=rswho71/> He was nominated to serve on the Advisory Committee of the Chief Commissioner of Ajmer 1946–1947.<ref name=glance/><ref name=rswho71/> Kaul was a member of the Ajmer Provincial Congress Committee.<ref name=glance/> In 1950, he became a member of the [[Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway]] Local Advisory Committee.<ref name=glance/>

==Ajmer State minister==
He was elected to the [[Ajmer Legislative Assembly]] from the Ajmer-II (East) constituency in the [[1952 Ajmer Legislative Assembly election]].<ref name=who3/><ref name=rsbio/><ref name=glance/> He obtained 5,251 votes, standing as one of the Indian National Congress candidates for the two-member seat.<ref name="AjmerECI1951">{{cite web |url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1951/StatRep_51_AJMER.pdf |title= Statistical Report on General Election, 1951 to the Legislative Assembly of Ajmer |publisher= [[Election Commission of India]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150504034157/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1951/StatRep_51_AJMER.pdf |access-date= 16 June 2025|archive-date= 4 May 2015 }}</ref> Kaul served as the Home and Finance Minister of Ajmer State, until the merger of Ajmer State with [[Rajasthan]].<ref name=who3/><ref name=rsbio/> He also held the ministerial portfolios of Planning and Development, Public Works, Excise and Registration and Stamps in the Ajmer State government.<ref name=glance>{{cite book | first1=T. V. | last1=Rama Rao | first2=G. D. | last2=Binani | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2b9NOnb8WigC | title=India at a Glance: A Comprehensive Reference Book on India | publisher=Orient Longmans | date=1954 | page=578}}</ref>

==In Rajasthan politics==
Kaul contested the Ajmer City East seat in the [[1957 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election]]. He was defeated by independent candidate Mahendra Singh, finishing in second place with 8,211 votes (31.89%).<ref name="RajasthanECI1957">{{cite web |url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1957/StatRep_Rajasthan_1957.pdf |title= Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 to the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan |publisher= [[Election Commission of India]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150509072325/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1957/StatRep_Rajasthan_1957.pdf |access-date= 16 June 2025|archive-date= 9 May 2015 }}</ref> In 1957–1958 he led protests for Ajmer employees (arguing that former Ajmer State employees were discriminated against in the integration in to the Rajasthan state bureaucracy), and on 1 October 1958 he initiated conducted a 15-day hunger strike.<ref name=who3/><ref name=rswho71/><ref>''[https://books.google.at/books?id=TOYmAQAAIAAJ Civic Affairs, November 1958]''. C. Kapoor at the Citizen Press, 1958. p. 45</ref> Kaul was elected to the [[Rajasthan Legislative Assembly]] in the 1962 election, obtaining 22,961 votes (68.14%) in Ajmer City East.<ref name=rsbio/><ref name="RajasthanECI1962">{{cite web |url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1962/StatRep_Rajasthan_1962.pdf |title= Statistical Report on General Election, 1962 to the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan |publisher= [[Election Commission of India]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150508184900/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1962/StatRep_Rajasthan_1962.pdf |access-date= 16 June 2025|archive-date= 8 May 2015 }}</ref> Subsequently he was named Finance, Excise and Taxation Minister in the Rajasthan state government.<ref name=who3/><ref name=rsbio/> Kaul contested the [[Nasirabad Assembly constituency|Nasirabad seat]] in the [[1967 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election]], finishing in second place with 11,774 votes (35.21%).<ref name="RajasthanECI1967">{{cite web |url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1967/Statistical%20Report%20Rajasthan%201967.pdf |title= Statistical Report on General Election, 1967 to the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan |publisher= [[Election Commission of India]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150428144412/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1967/Statistical%20Report%20Rajasthan%201967.pdf |access-date= 16 June 2025|archive-date= 28 April 2015 }}</ref>

==Rajya Sabha parliamentarian==
In September 1968, he was [[1968 Rajya Sabha elections|elected to the Rajya Sabha]].<ref name=who3>{{cite book | first=Milap Chand | last=Dandia | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eZE2AQAAIAAJ | title=Rajasthan Year Book & Who's who | volume=14 | date=1976 | page=34}}</ref><ref name=rswho71/> Kaul's Rajya Sabha term lasted from 4 October 1968 to 2 April 1974.<ref name=rsbio/> Kaul sided with the [[Congress (O)]] in the split in the party.<ref name=rsbio/><ref name=rswho71>''[https://books.google.at/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&id=Qt1FAQAAIAAJ Who's who, Vol. 11]''. Rajya Sabha Secretariat, 1972. pp. 114–115</ref> In 1971, he became a member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.<ref name=rswho71/>

Bal Krishna Kaul died in 1979.<ref name=rsbio>Rajya Sabha. ''[https://www.google.at/books/edition/Rajya_Sabha_Members/VtpFJucR0foC Rajya Sabha Members - Biographical Sketches, 1952-2003]''. 2003. p. 159</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaul, Balkrishna}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ajmer]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Finance ministers of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Members of the Ajmer Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:Rajasthan MLAs 1962–1967]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Indian hunger strikers]]

Bal Krishna Kaul - Revision history

Shai0778 at 17:02, 15 August 2025