Harbans Kapoor

Harbans Kapoor (7 January 1946 – 13 December 2021) was an Indian politician who was a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttarakhand State. He was Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from 2007 to 2012. He was elected to the assembly from Dehra Khas constituency. After the first defeat in 1985, he never lost Legislative Assembly elections and won for a record eight terms in a row (four times as the member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and four as the member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly) from Dehradun.

Early life and education Kapoor was born in Bannu, North-West Frontier Province in 1946 to a Hindkowan Hindu family. His family settled in Dehradun after Partition of India. He completed his early schooling from St. Joseph's Academy, Dehradun. He graduated in Law from D.A.V. Post Graduate College, Dehradun.

Politics Starting as a grass root level politician, he joined the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha in 1989 as a member of the 10th Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha from Dehradun constituency, followed by the 11th Vidhan Sabha, 12th Vidhan Sabha and the 13th Vidhan Sabha. He also maintained his victory in the first election of the new state of Uttarakhand in 2002 and continued his victory spree in all the elections after the inception. In 2007, he was unanimously elected the Speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly. He was one of the oldest leaders in Uttarakhand BJP.

Later life Kapoor died on 13 December 2021, at the age of 75 at his home in Dehradun from Heart Attack.

Positions held Year Description 1989 - 1991 Elected to 10th Uttar Pradesh Assembly 1991 - 1993 Elected to 11th Uttar Pradesh Assembly Minister of State for Rural Development 1993 - 1996 Elected to 12th Uttar Pradesh Assembly Member - Committee on Petitions 1996 - 2000 Elected to 13th Uttar Pradesh Assembly Member - Public Accounts Committee 2000 - 2002 Elected to Interim Uttaranchal Assembly Minister of State for Urban Development, Housing, Labour and Employment 2002 - 2007 Elected to 1st Uttarakhand Assembly Member - Public Accounts Committee Member - Committee on Assembly Rules Member - Committee on Housing 2007 - 2012 Elected to 2nd Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker - Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly Chairman - Committee on Assembly Rules Chairman - Business Advisory Committee 2012 - 2017 Elected to 3rd Uttarakhand Assembly 2017 - 2021 Elected to 4th Uttarakhand Assembly

Elections contested YearConstituencyResultVote percentageOpposition CandidateOpposition PartyOpposition vote percentageRef1985 Dehradun 22.85% Hira Singh Bisht INC 66.76% 1989 Dehradun 42.84% Hira Singh Bisht INC 31.11% 1991 Dehradun 54.14% Vinod Chandola INC 31.30% 1993 Dehradun 53.74% Dinesh Agrawal INC 38.55% 1996 Dehradun 56.37% Dinesh Agrawal INC 17.98% 2002 Dehradun Cantonment NA Sanjay Sharma INC NA 2007 Dehradun Cantonment NA Lal Chand Sharma INC NA 2012 Dehradun Cantonment NA Devendra Singh Sethi INC NA 2017 Dehradun Cantonment 56.99% Suryakant Dhasmana INC 33.90%