K. C. Pant

Who was K. C. Pant?

K.C. Pant was a cabinet minister in the federal Government of India.

He was born in Nainital and educated at St. Joseph's College, Nainital. He was the son of Govind Ballabh Pant, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He did his MSc from the University of Lucknow, and then joined politics and became a member of the Indian National Congress party.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1962, and then in 1967, 1971 and 1989. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1978 and was leader of the house during 1979-1980.

K.C. Pant was Union minister with cabinet rank holding the portfolios of Defence, Finance, Steel and Heavy Engineering, Home Affairs, Electronics, Atomic Energy and Science and Technology. He was the first chairman of the Advisory Board on Energy. He was deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 2000 to 2004 during the premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He left the Indian National Congress Party in 1998 and later on joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. His wife Ila Pant was also elected to the Lok Sabha. K C Pant died on 15 November 2012 following a heart attack at the age of 81.