Suraj Bhan
सूरज भान
Suraj Bhan
Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes
In office 2004 - 2006
Succeeded by	Buta Singh
14th Governor of Himachal Pradesh
In office 23 November 2000 – 7 May 2003
Chief Minister	Prem Kumar Dhumal Virbhadra Singh
Preceded by	Vishnu Kant Shastri
Succeeded by	Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje
23rd Governor of Uttar Pradesh
In office 20 April 1998 – 23 November 2000
Chief Minister	Kalyan Singh Ram Prakash Gupta Rajnath Singh
Preceded by	Mohammad Shafi Qureshi (Acting)
Succeeded by	Vishnu Kant Shastri
Governor of Bihar (Additional Charge)
In office 6 October 1999 – 23 November 1999
Chief Minister	Rabri Devi
Preceded by	B.M. Lall (Acting)
Succeeded by	V. C. Pande
11th Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha
In office 12 July 1996 – 4 December 1997
Speaker	P. A. Sangma
Preceded by	S. Mallikarjunaiah
Succeeded by	P. M. Sayeed
22nd Minister of Agriculture
In office 16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Jagannath Mishra
Succeeded by	H. D. Deve Gowda
Member of Parliament- Ambala (Haryana)
In office 1967–1970; 1977–1979; 1979–1984; 1996–1997
Leader of Opposition of Haryana Assembly
In office 1989–1990
Revenue Minister (Haryana)
In office 1987–1989
Personal details
Born	(1928-10-01)1 October 1928 Yamunanagar, British India
Died	6 August 2006(2006-08-06) (aged 77) Delhi, India
Cause of death	Cardiac Arrest
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party

Suraj Bhan (1 October 1928 – 6 August 2006) was a former Governor, Member of Parliament and an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party.

Personal life

Suraj Bhan Banswal was born on 1 October 1928 at Mehlanwali, Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana into Chamar community and studied MA and LLB at Panjab University and Kurukshetra University.^[1]

He started his public life as a volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.^[2] His son Arun Kumar is also associated with BJP and been in-charge in various municipal corp. elections in Hayana.

His grandson Gaurav Banswal is an IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh Cadre where Bhan served as Governor.^[3]

Political career

• He started his political career with Bharatiya Jana Sangh which eventually became the Bharatiya Janata Party and dropped his last name "Banswal" after joining active politics.
• He represented the Ambala parliamentary constituency of Haryana in the 4th (1967–1970), 6th (1977–1979), 7th (1979–1984) and the 11th Lok Sabhas (1996–1997).^[4]
• In 1987, he was elected to Haryana Legislative Assembly and served as Revenue Minister in Devi Lal's govt. (1987-1989). After the BJP broke alliance with Devi Lal's party, he served as Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly (1989–1990).
• He was appointed as Haryana State President of Bharatiya Janata Party in 1984.^[5]
• In 1996, he held the portfolio of Agriculture Minister under First Vajpayee Ministry after which he served as Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha (1996-1997).
• He lost in 1998 Lok Sabha elections, but was appointed as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh (1998-2000), Himachal Pradesh (2000-2003), and then as Governor of Bihar (1999).^[6]
• In 2002 Dr Suraj Bhan also joined the race for the post of Vice-President of India following re-thinking in the BJP over the candidature of former Rajasthan Chief Minister, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.^[7]
• In Feb. 2004, he was appointed as the National Chairman of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission.^[8]

He died of cardiac arrest following multiple organ failure on 6 August 2006 in New Delhi at the age of 77.