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Who is Kamal Nath?
Kamal Nath was born on 18 November 1946 and is an Indian politician who served as the 18th Madhya Pradesh's Chief Minister for about 15 months and resigned after a political turmoil. He was the Opposition leader in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly from March 2020 to April 2022.
He has served as the Minister of Urban Development as the INC (Indian National Congress) leader. He is one of the longest serving and most senior Lok Sabha members, lower house of the country’s bicameral Parliament. He was designated the Pro Tem Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha.
He has been elected nine times from the Chhindwara Lok Sabha of Madhya Pradesh constituency. Nath was chosen president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee in May 2018, and led the party in the November-December 2018 assembly elections. He assumed the office of Chief Minister on 17 December 2018 and resigned on 20 March 2020 after his government lost the majority in the house.
Personal life and Education
Kamal Nath was born on 18 November 1946 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in a business family. His father Mahendra Nath founded firms engaged with publishing, exhibition and distribution of films, trading power transmission and mother, Leela Nath is a homemaker. He has two sisters named Anita Puri and Rita Jolly.
Kamal is an alumnus of The Doon School. Afterward, from St. Xavier's School, Kolkata, he graduated in Commerce.
He got married to Alka Nath on January 27, 1973 and has two children named Bakul Nath and Nakul Nath. Alka Nath and Nakul Nath are both parliament members.
Political Career
- Nath was first elected to the 7th Lok Sabha in 1980. He was reappointed to the 8th Lok Sabha in 1984, the 9th Lok Sabha in 1989, and the 10th Lok Sabha in 1991. He was introduced into the Union Council of Ministers as Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment and Forests in June 1991. He served as Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Textiles from 1995 to 1996 .
- In 1998, Nath was chosen to the 12th Lok Sabha and in 1999, he elected as the 13th Lok Sabha. He was the General Secretary of the Indian National Congress (INC) from 2001 to 2004.
- He was reappointed to the 14th Lok Sabha in the 2004 elections and from 2004 to 2009 he served as the Union Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Industry.
- For the 15th Lok Sabha on 16th May, 2009 he won the elections from his constituency and re-entered the Cabinet as the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways. In 2011, because of a cabinet reshuffle, Nath replaced Jaipal Reddy to take the oath of the Minister of Urban Development.
- Nath was confirmed in October 2012 to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs with his ongoing role as Minister of Urban Development. Nath replaced Pranab Mukherjee in late 2012 to assist the UPA government on a crucial debate on foreign direct investment in India (FDI).
- In December 2012, Nath also replaced Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh as an ex official member of the Planning Commission.
- Kamal Nath was the only member from 4 to 5 June 2014 to have taken the official oath as a newly elected member of the 16th Lok Sabha, and was made the Pro Tem Speaker.
- On 13 December 2018, Nath was elected as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh as the single biggest party with 114 seats.
- On 28 April 2022, Nath resigned from his role as opposition leader in the Madhya Pradesh assembly.
Other Businesses
- Kamal Nath is the president of the board of governors for The Institute of Management Technology (IMT), a management institution.
- In addition to being the Patron to the Bharat Yuvak Samaj (Youth Wing of All India Bharat Seva Samaj), Nation serves as Chairman of the "Madhya Pradesh Child Development Council".
- Nath focuses on the requirement for the Indian infrastructure development with projects like the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, a 90 billion dollars industrial development project.
Positions (till date)
- 1980 - 1984: Elected to 7th Lok Sabha
- 1984 - 1989: Elected to 8th Lok Sabha
- 1989 - 1991: Elected to 9th Lok Sabha
- 1991 - 1996: Elected to 10th Lok Sabha
- 1991-95: Minister of State for Environment and Forests (Independent Charge)
- 1995-96: Minister of State for Textiles (Independent Charge)
- 1998 - 1999: Elected to 12th Lok Sabha
- Member, Standing Committee on Petroleum and Chemicals
- Member, Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme
- Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Power
- 1999 - 2004: Elected to 13th Lok Sabha
- Member, Standing Committee on Finance (1999-2000)
- Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Mines and Minerals (2000-04)
- 2004 - 2009: Elected to 14th Lok Sabha
- Union Cabinet Minister for Commerce & Industry
- 2009 - 2014: Elected to 15th Lok Sabha
- Union Cabinet Minister for Road Transport and Highways (2009-11)
- Union Cabinet Minister for Urban Development (2011-14)
- Union Cabinet Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (2012-14)
- 2014 - 2018: Elected to 16th Lok Sabha
- Pro-tem Speaker
- Member, Standing Committee on Commerce
- Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs
- 2019 - 2023: Elected to 15th Madhya Pradesh Assembly
- Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (2018-20)
- leader of opposition, Madhya Pradesh (2020-22).
Achievements and Awards
- 2006: Jabalpur's Rani Durgavati College provided the Honorary Doctorate.
- 2007: FDI Personality of the Year by the FDI magazine and the Financial Times Business.
- 2008: Business Reformer of the Year by The Economic Times.
- 2012: He got the "ABLF Statesman Award" at the Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards 2012 in November.
Controversies
- During his time as Commerce minister in 2007, Kamal Nath, along with Sharad Pawar, and Pranab Mukherjee helped support a ban on the non-basmati rice export. It was alleged that PSUs engaged with export to Africa outsourced the efforts to domestic private organisations. It is stated that the private organisations created huge profits while the PSUs gained small margins.
- A day after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on 1 November 1984, an anti Sikh Massacre broke out in Delhi. Later in around 2008-09, the commission found that the evidence implicating Kamal Nath in the riots was not sufficient. Nath was not charged and he later expressed that he was "completely absolved" by the Nanavati Commission.
- The Income Tax Department conducted inspections at the properties of family members and helpers of CM Nath in April 2019. The agency claimed to have found about Rs 281 crore in unaccounted cash, including Rs 20 crore paid to the Congress headquarters in Delhi “through hawala.”
- During the rally in the 2020 Madhya Pradesh by-election, Nath referred to cabinet minister Imarti Devi as 'Item' (informally viewed as a physically provocative word/objectification to women). On 30 October 2020, the Election Commission of India revoked the star campaigner status of Nation referring to the Model Code of Conduct violation.
Net Worth
- He was announced in September 2011, the richest Cabinet minister in India with assets worth INR 2.73 billion (INR 2,730,000,000 or US$59 million).
- Nath and his wife Alka own immovable and movable assets worth Rs 124.67 crore, according to the previous affidavit filed for the 2019 Chhindwara Assembly bypoll. Nath's versatile movable stand at Rs 7.01 crore while his wife has worth Rs 33.50 crore, the affidavit further says. The total worth of his immovable assets is over Rs 68.36 crore while his wife has more than Rs 15.79 crore.
- His annual pay for the fiscal 2017-18 is more than Rs 1.38 crore, while wife, Alka has Rs 96.22 lakh according to the couple's ITR. According to the affidavit, Nath claims a sum of 67.20 acres of land in Chhindwara region.
- The MP CM claims a registered Safari Storme SUV in Madhya Pradesh and a registered Ambassador Classic car.
- The affidavit said, he owns 300 grams of gold adornments worth more than Rs 8.77 lakh, while his wife has more than 915 grams gold and 1,989.13 carat diamond and stone jewellery worth at Rs 2.20 crore.