Balraj Madhok

Who is Balraj Madhok?

Balraj Madhok was a president of Jan Sangh and a senior politician of India in 1960s. He was born at Skardu in the former princely state of Kashmir and Jammu. He started his academic and political career in Jammu and Kashmir. He unified Hindus who were not in large numbers, to stand against the Pakistani forces and local separatists in 1948. He along with Pt. Prem Nath Dogra, formed the Praja Parishad Party in Kashmir in 1949. The party demanded complete unification of Jammu & Kashmir with India. Later he merged the Praja Parishad Party with BJS. He assisted Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in formation of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh in 1951, which in 1980 got transformed into Bharatiya Janta Party. He was the first secretary of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh. He scripted the first manifesto of the Party.

He was a Professor of History at the University of Delhi. He served as the President of the party for a year. He served as a member in the Consultative committee of Foreign Affairs, Lok Sabha. He was the President of Indo-Israeli Friendship Society and Indo-Tibetan Society.

He held various positions in the BJS as Secretary, General Secretary, Ideologue and Parliamentary Party Leader. He was elected to the Second and Fourth Lok Sabha from North Delhi and South Delhi. Prof. Madhok, was elected as the President of BJS in 1966 and he led the party in the general elections of 1967. Bharatiya Jana Sangh got its highest ever tally of 35 seats in the Lok Sabha. By that time, even the most hardcore supporters of him started to believe that Balraj Madhok had become too big for his boots. It started the end of his political career.