V C Shukla: Achieved fame during Emergency as propagandist

Vidya Charan Shukla, a Congressman by origin who changed parties and held key portfolios including External Affairs, achieved fame during the infamous Emergency as a propagandist for Indira Gandhi's government.

Son of an illustrious Congressman and a freedom fighter Pandit Ravishankar Shukla, the first Chief Minister of the re-organised Madhya Pradesh, V C Shukla entered Lok Sabha from Mahasamund after winning in the second general elections in 1957 as one of the youngest Parliamentarians.

His brother Shyama Charan Shukla was another veteran Congressman, who had served as Chief Minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh.

He won nine Parliament elections and in his long political career, he held virtually all portfolios including Communications, Home, Defence, Finance, Planning, Civil Supplies, External Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources at the Centre.
 

But his role as Information and Broadcasting Minister during the Emergency days had catapulted him to national focus and also got him some odium.