A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(August 2024) |
Arvind Khanna | |
---|---|
Vice-President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab | |
Assumed office 3 December 2022 | |
President | Ashwani Kumar Sharma Sunil Kumar Jakhar |
Member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly | |
In office 2002 - 2007 | |
Preceded by | Ranjit Singh |
Succeeded by | Surinder Pal Singh Sibia |
Constituency | Sangrur |
In office 2012 - 2015 | |
Preceded by | Iqbal Singh Jhundan |
Succeeded by | Gobind Singh Longowal |
Constituency | Dhuri |
Personal details | |
Born | Delhi,India | 29 May 1967
Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party (2022-present) |
Other political affiliations | Shiromani Akali Dal (1997) Indian National Congress (1998-2015) |
Spouse | Shagun Khanna |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | Vipin Khanna (father) Naginder Khanna (mother) |
Education | Millfield |
Alma mater | Pepperdine University |
Occupation |
|
Website | Official website |
Arvind Khanna (born 29 May 1967) is an Indian politician, businessman, investor and philanthropist. [1] Khanna is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which he joined in January 2022. [2] He is a senior leader of the BJP. [3] [4] He is serving as Vice-President of BJP Punjab since December 2022 and is a member of BJP Punjab's core committee and finance committee. [5] [6] [7] He served as the member of legislative assembly (MLA) from Sangrur from 2002 to 2007 and the MLA from Dhuri from 2012 to 2014. [2] [8] From 1998 to 2015, Khanna was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC). [9] During his time in the INC, Khanna served as General Secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), PPCC treasurer, President of the Punjab Youth Congress, and a member of the All India Congress Committee. [8] [10] [11]
Khanna's business interests, through his ASAS group of companies, which he founded in 2008, were in the arms, aerospace, technology, software and telecommunications equipment industries. [12] [13] [14] He also founded TSL Defence Technologies in 2001, which was one of India's first private sector defence manufacturing companies. [15] [16] [17] According to allegations by Indian government authorities, Khanna was reportedly a central figure in the defence industry of India. [18] [13] [19] However, the allegations against him were never proven, and the investigations into Khanna found no evidence of wrongdoing and were dropped. [20] [21] [22] He has also had other business interests and investments in various industries, including real estate and sports. [12] [23] In 2022, Khanna ended all involvement in his business interests due to his return to politics. [24]
In 1997, Khanna founded the Umeed Foundation, one of the largest non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Punjab. [25] [26] [27] He has also held positions in sports administration, including serving as the president of the Professional Golfers Association of India. [28] [29]
Arvind Khanna was born on 29 May 1967 in Delhi, India. Khanna is the second son and third child of Vipin Khanna and Naginder Khanna. [13] [30] [31] His elder siblings are Vinita and Navin, and his younger brother is Aditya. [31] His mother, Naginder, was the daughter of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. [32] In 1991, Khanna came back to Delhi and joined his family businesses. [10] However, he was also as a Non-Resident Indian for a period of time during the 1990s. [33]
Khanna attended school at Millfield in Somerset, England. [10] He then attended college at Pepperdien University in California, from where he graduated in 1989 with a degree in business management. [10] During his time in university, Khanna lived in Beverly Hills, California. [34]
He has been a junior champion golfer in India, and has also played golf for Millfield, Pepperdine University and the Indian national men's team. [35] [36] In 1984, Khanna was the world's the 5th ranked junior golfer, with a golf handicap of 4. [37] He also took golf lessons from professional golfer Rick Graves in California in 1984. [37] At the age of 17, in 1985, while attending Millfield, he had a handicap of zero. [38]
Khanna was introduced to politics by Sukhbir Singh Badal, and joined the Shiromani Akali Dal in 1997. [39] Khanna and Badal are close friends. [40] [41] After joining the party, he became the General Secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal's youth wing. [9]
In 1998, Khanna joined the Indian National Congress and served as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) party treasurer. [10] He also served as the President of the Punjab Youth Congress. [42] Khanna has been elected twice as a member of the legislative assembly (MLA). In the 2002 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, Khanna contested from Sangrur and secured 42,339 votes (44.2%), winning by a margin of 19,132 votes. [43] In the 2004 Indian general election, he contested from the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency, and lost in a closely contested election against Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. [44] In the 2012 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, he won from Dhuri by securing 51,536 votes (45.65%). [45] Khanna served as the General Secretary of the PPCC and was also attached to the Punjab Congress Committee (PCC) President's office. [46] He was also a member of the All India Congress Committee. [11]
Khanna wielded significant influence in the Punjab Congress because of his personal fortune and his relationship with Amarinder Singh, former Chief Minister of Punjab. [47] Khanna and Singh are first cousins, being related through Khanna's mother, Naginder, who was Singh's paternal aunt and the sister of Yadavindra Singh, the last Maharaja of Patiala. [40] [32] [48] During his time in the Congress Party, Khanna was reported to be Singh's second-in-command and controlled access to Singh's office. [49] [50] [51] Khanna would regularly provide his private airplane and helicopter for Singh's use. [52] [53] Khanna also gained control over the Punjab Congress' political strategy by using his personal fortune to fund Singh's office during his second term as PCC President, and hiring managers to monitor, coordinate and schedule Singh's meetings. [1] [46] In his visits to Chandigarh, Singh would stay in Khanna's house in Sector 10. [52]
However, in May 2014, he resigned as an MLA, and then left the Congress Party in 2015. [54] [55] At the time, he also considered joining the Shiromani Akali Dal, but decided to leave politics entirely. [56] Khanna stated that his reasons for leaving politics were to focus on his businesses and spend time with his family. [54] It was also reported that he was discontent with the Punjab Congress and its leadership, which Khanna himself stated to be true. [57] [56] During his time in the Punjab Congress, Khanna was the party's main financial benefactor. [58]
In 2021, speculation arose in the media that Khanna may be joining the Shiromani Akali Dal and contesting from Sangrur in the 2022 elections. [59] In January 2022, Khanna reentered politics and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Union Cabinet Ministers, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Hardeep Singh Puri. [60] [61] Khanna is reported to be a senior leader of the BJP and an influential figure in BJP Punjab. [3] [62] He contested from Sangrur in the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections and lost to Narinder Kaur Bharaj. [63]
Within a year of joining the BJP, Khanna was appointed to senior offices in BJP Punjab. In December 2022, Khanna was appointed as Vice-President of BJP Punjab. [5] He was also appointed to BJP Punjab's newly formed finance committee. [6] In March 2023, he was put in charge of managing the Jalandhar West Assembly constituency for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency by-election in May 2023. [64] [65]
In November 2023, he was appointed to BJP Punjab's core committee. [7] In March 2024, Khanna and Sunil Jakhar, the President of BJP Punjab, were the only senior BJP leaders who attended the gathering in Badal for the first death anniversary of former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. [66] On 14 April 2024, Punjab Police detained 40 farmers that had gathered to protest Khanna's visit to Malerkotla. [67] The 40 farmers were later released by Punjab Police on the same day. [67] In the 2024 Indian General Election, Khanna contested, unsuccessfully, from the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency and lost to Meet Hayer of Aam Aadmi Party; however, he gained a considerable increase in his vote share. [68] [69]
Khanna began his business career in 1991. His business interests spanned various industries, including the arms, aerospace, technology, software and telecommunications equipment industries. Khanna business interests have been scrutinised in the media. [70] [71] [72] In 2001, Khanna founded TSL Defence Technologies, which was one of the first private sector defence companies in India. [15] [16] TSL Defence Technologies was also one of the first 9 Indian private sector companies to receive a defence manufacturing license. [73] [17] [74] TSL Defence Technologies manufactured simulators, simulator accessories, electronic warfare equipment and airborne radars. [75]
In 2008, Khanna founded ASAS Investments, which had business interests in both India and foreign countries. [12] [76] ASAS Investments provided market research, market analysis and advisory services to foreign companies that were looking to enter the Indian market and Indian companies that were seeking to do business in other countries. [12] The company also acquired strategic investments in startups and other businesses which required either capital, a strategic advisor or access to connections in India or globally. [12] Other ASAS group companies that Khanna founded were ASAS Global Services, ASAS Tec, ASAS Tech Solutions, ASAS Aviation and ASAS Projects. [15] [77] [78]
Khanna, through his ASAS group of companies, collaborated with foreign companies to bring hardware and software technologies to the Indian defence, aerospace and telecommunications industries. [12] Through various companies that Khanna owned, he was a shareholder of Indian defence and aerospace companies, Defsys Solutions from 2012 to 2015, Defsys Technical Services from 2015 to 2016 and Realism Technologies from 2015 to 2016, that had offset agreements with foreign defence and aerospace original equipment manufacturers. [79] [80] [81]
Other companies Khanna had founded include Root Invest, Umeed Urban Solutions, Umeed Projects, Umeed Social & Economic Development, Umeed Rural Outsourcing and Tiger Corporation. [15] [77] [82] [83] From 1997 to 2006, Tiger Sports Marketing, a Tiger Corporation joint venture with Asia Sports Group, managed the commercial rights of the Indian Golf Tour. [84] In 2006, Tiger Sports Marketing set up, managed and marketed the first Professional Golf Tour of India. [83] [85] He was also one of the co-owners of Punjab Kings, which was known as Kings XI Punjab at the time, Indian Premier League cricket team founded in 2008. [86] [87]
Khanna also had investments in the real estate and hospitality industries. [71] In 2006, Khanna, through one of his investment companies, and businessman Gursamarjit Singh invested in a company that developed a hotel in Delhi, and the company was sold in 2012. [23] Singh's office also managed Khanna's real estate investments portfolio; however, according to an Indian business registry, the last business interaction between Singh and Khanna took place in 2018. [23] Singh, a real estate businessman based in the UK, was a donor to the Conservative Party and was seen with former British prime ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson. [23] In 2020, Singh posted a birthday message for Khanna on the social media platform Instagram, referring to Khanna as the capo dei capi (a term which translates to boss of bosses in Italian), however, Singh's lawyers stated that the comment was a private joke between friends. [23] Singh's lawyers in India also stated that Khanna and Singh have no business relationships, and that Khanna is a personal friend amongst Singh's other personal friends. [23]
In 2022, Khanna ended his involvement in all business activities due to reentering politics. [24]
Khanna's father, Vipin, was allegedly one of the largest and most powerful arms dealers in India according to claims by the Indian government and investigative agencies. [13] [88] [89] [90] In his business career, Khanna was reportedly a key figure in the Indian defence industry, allegedly exerting control over the approval of arms deals in India, according to claims by Indian government agencies. [18] [89] [13] Khanna, and his family, were investigated and accused in several arms deals. However, the investigations into Khanna and his family never resulted in any convictions and never proved any wrongdoing. [22] [21]
In 2000, the Indian Navy had placed a purchase order for seven Barak anti-missile defence systems and 200 Barak missiles, from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), an Israeli defence and aerospace company. [91] [92] In 2007, Khanna and his family were accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of having influenced the deal in favour of IAI, receiving kickbacks from the company, and it was also suspected that companies owned by Khanna and his family had received substantial payments from IAI. [93] [94] Eventually, the case against Khanna and his family was dropped due to lack of evidence. [21]
In 2003, Denel, a South African defence and aerospace company, had received an order by the Indian Army to supply 1200 bunker buster anti-material rifles. [90] [95] In 2005, Khanna and his family were accused for allegedly facilitating the deal. [96] [97] The CBI suspected Khanna and his family of receiving 12.75% in commissions for securing the contract in Denel's favor, and to influence the Ministry of Defence's Price Negotiation Committee. [98] [99] However, Khanna and his family denied any involvement in the Denel deal, and eventually, the CBI dropped the case due to lack of evidence. [20] [100]
In 2009, Israel Military Industries (IMI), an Israeli weapons manufacturer, was awarded a contract by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) to build a factory to produce artillery charges. [19] The CBI accused Khanna's company, TSL Defence Technologies, and its employees of influencing the contract selection on behalf of IMI with senior members of the OFB. [19] [101] [102] The Delhi High Court later acquitted Khanna and his company, and gave them a clean chit. [22] In addition to this, the Delhi High Court also levied a fine on the Ministry of Defence for falsely implicating Khanna's company in the case. [22]
From 2012 to 2016, Khanna, through various companies he owned, was a shareholder of Defsys Solutions, a company linked to allegations of corruption related to its influence on and facilitation of India’s procurement of 36 Dassault Rafale multirole combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force, a procurement process that lasted from 2012 to 2016. [79] However, neither Khanna nor any of the other shareholders of Defsys Solutions were investigated in relation to allegations of corruption in the Dassault Rafale procurement. [79]
In 2016 and 2019, it was alleged that Khanna was collaborating with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, an Israeli defence company, on missile systems projects in India. [103] [89]
In 1997, Khanna founded the Umeed Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), in Sangrur. [1] [104] The Umeed (which translates to hope in Hindi) Foundation is one of Punjab's largest NGOs. [25] Since it was founded, the NGO has reached out to 550 villages and has helped 12 million people. [105] [106] [107] The Umeed Foundation's initiatives are primarily focused on the economic and social empowerment of women, providing health care and employment generation. [27] The NGO's healthcare initiatives involve providing primary health care in rural Punjab. [108] [109] The NGO has also been supported by various organizations that include the Council of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), Medanta, Cipla, Mohandai Oswal Hospital, the Australian High Commission in India and the Government of Japan. [110]
In 2008, the Umeed Foundation collaborated with the Bharti Airtel Foundation and laid the foundation stone of the Satya Bharti School in Sangrur. The foundation stone was laid by Khanna's mother, Naginder. [111] In 2012, Umeed participated in the New York International Gift Fair and displayed products made by underprivileged women from rural Punjab under the NGO's social and economic empowerment initiatives. [112] In 2023, the Umeed Foundation restarted its services. After restarting its services in 2023, the NGO focuses on providing healthcare, employment and education for the underprivileged people of rural Punjab. [113] The NGO has also helped form women's self help groups in villages which receive employment training. [113]
Khanna has competed in golf tournaments in India and had served as the president of the Professional Golfers Association of India (PGI). [29] [114] Khanna has also helped and supported young Indian golfers with their international promotions. [115] He financially assisted professional golfer Smriti Mehra in the 1990s, when she was competing in tournaments in the United States. [116] Through one of his companies, Khanna also sponsored professional golfer Gaurav Ghei, his friend and playing partner during the 1990s. [117] He is one of the co-owners of Christie's Golf, a Delhi Golf Club League team. [118]
Khanna also served as the president of the Fencing Association of India and as the Secretary-General of the Punjab Olympic Association. [28] [119]
Khanna is married to Shagun Khanna, a lifestyle blogger. They have two sons, Adhiraj and Suryaveer. [120] [121] Adhiraj and Suryaveer maintain business and financial interests that are separate from Khanna's. [24] [122] [123] Adhiraj married Tanya Chadha, the daughter of industrialist Raju Chadha and niece of Ponty Chadha, in 2021. [124] [125] In Delhi, Khanna has, at various periods, had residences on Prithviraj Road in New Delhi and in Mehrauli in the South Delhi district. [126] [127]
The National Democratic Alliance is a right-wing Indian political group led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was founded on 15 May 1998 and currently controls the government of India as well as the government of 19 Indian states and one Union territory.
Amarinder Singh, is an Indian politician, military historian, former royal and Indian Army veteran who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. His father was the last Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala. Before starting his political career, Singh was an officer in the Indian Army, where he served from 1963 to 1966.
Bhagwant Singh Mann, better known by his stage name "Jugnu", is an Indian politician, social worker, former comedian, singer and actor who is currently serving as the 17th Chief minister of Punjab since 2022. He represents the Dhuri Assembly constituency in the Punjab Legislative Assembly since 2022 and is also serving as the state convener of Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab since 2019. Previously, he was a member of the Lok Sabha from Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency from 2014 to 2022.
Although India is a parliamentary democracy, the country's politics has become dynastic or with high level of nepotism, possibly due to the absence of party organizations, independent civil-society associations which mobilize support for a party, or centralized financing of elections. The dynastic phenomenon is present at the national, state, regional, and district level. The Nehru–Gandhi family has produced three Indian prime ministers, and family members have largely led the Congress party since 1978. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has several dynastic leaders. In addition to the major national parties, other national and regional parties such as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal Secular, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Kerala Congress, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Indian Union Muslim League, AIMIM, and the Nationalist Congress Party are all dominated by families, mostly those of the party founders.
Arvind Kejriwal is an Indian politician, activist and former bureaucrat, who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi. He was the chief minister from 2013 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2024. He is also the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) since 2012. He has represented the New Delhi constituency in the Delhi Legislative Assembly since 2015 and from 2013 to 2014.
Randeep Singh Surjewala is an Indian politician from Haryana and a member of Indian National Congress party. He was an MLA in the Haryana state legislature until 2019 and a former minister. He held water supply and sanitation, parliamentary affairs, electronics and information technology, science and technology and public works as a minister in Haryana cabinet. In 2005, he was given the responsibility of Transport and Parliamentary Affairs and thus became the youngest minister in Haryana. He defeated Om Prakash Chautala in 1996 and 2005. As of December 2017, Surjewala is one of the official spokespersons of Indian National Congress party, and as of September 2021, is a General Secretary of the Indian National Congress and Party in-charge for Karnataka. In the biennial elections of the Rajya Sabha for the State of Rajasthan, held on 10 June 2022, Mr. Surjewala was elected as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, with his term to start on 5 July 2022.
Sukhpal Singh Khaira is an Indian politician serving as Indian National Congress MLA from Bholath constituency as his third term. He was the leader of opposition in Punjab Legislative Assembly during July 2017 to July 2018. He is the chairman of All India Kisan Congress since July 2022.
The Aam Aadmi Party is a political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then Indian government of Indian National Congress. The AAP is currently the governing party in the Indian state of Punjab and the union territory of Delhi. On 10 April 2023, the AAP was officially granted the status of national party by the ECI. The party's election symbol is a broom. The party is currently part of the coalition I.N.D.I.A.
The Sixth Legislative Assembly of Delhi was constituted on 14th Feb 2015 after the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly elections were concluded earlier that month. Second Kejriwal ministry was the cabinet during the term of 6th Delhi Assembly.
Atishi Marlena Singh, also known as Atishi Singh or Atishi Marlena or mononymously Atishi, is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 8th Chief Minister of Delhi since 21 September 2024, after the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal. She belongs to the Aam Aadmi Party and is a member of its Political Affairs Committee, the governing body of the party. Prior to her appointment as the chief minister, she also served as the Minister of Education, P.W.D, Culture and Tourism in the Delhi Government. Previously, she served as advisor to the former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, primarily on education, from July 2015 to 17 April 2018. Atishi is one of only two women currently serving as a chief minister in India, along with Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal.
Raghav Chadha is an Indian politician and a member of the Aam Aadmi Party. He is the youngest Rajya Sabha MP from the Punjab constituency. He was the former Vice Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board and MLA from the Rajendra Nagar assembly constituency in the 7th Delhi Assembly till 2022. Chadha has been elected as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He is also a practising chartered accountant.
A Legislative Assembly election was held in the Indian state of Punjab on 4 February 2017 to elect the 117 members of the Fifteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes was done on 11 March 2017. The ruling pre-election coalition was the alliance comprising the political parties Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party and led by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The voter turnout for the Punjab Assembly election was 77.2% The Indian National Congress led by former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh defeated the ruling alliance and the newcomer Aam Aadmi Party.
Harpal Singh Cheema is an Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Dirba Assembly constituency located in Sangrur District, Punjab. In March 2022, he became first BobA to be a finance minister of Punjab. He joined the Aam Aadmi Party just before the 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election. He contested and won the election from Dirba Assembly constituency against a popular Punjabi Kabbadi player Gulzar Singh Moonak from Shiromani Akali Dal and Ajaib Singh Ratolan from Indian National Congress. In July 2018 he was appointed leader of opposition of Punjab Legislative Assembly.
Legislative Assembly elections were held in Punjab on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the 16th Assembly of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 10 March 2022.
Vipin Kumar Khanna was an Indian businessman, financier and army officer. Khanna had diverse business interests. He founded Dynamic Sales Service International, a commodities trading and marketing company, which further expanded into railways, infrastructure, telecommunications equipment, shipbroking, fast-moving consumer goods and additional industries. Khanna also had other business interests, which included interests in the arms, aerospace, software, investment banking, hospitality, real estate, alcohol and drinks industries. He was a Non-Resident Indian based in London, England, and also had a base in Delhi, India.
Operation Kamala, also known as Operation Lotus is a term coined in 2008, when India's former minister G. Janardhana Reddy in the state of Karnataka, used various strategies, including persuasion and financial incentives to secure support from legislators bypassing the anti-defection law, so as to take the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) past the majority number. Operation Lotus refers to "poaching" or "bribing" of MLAs and MPs of other parties by the BJP, mainly of their rival the Indian National Congress party (INC), often to form government in states where they do not have the majority.
The 2024 elections in India includes the the general election and elections to the Rajya Sabha, to state legislative assemblies, to Panchayats and urban local bodies.
Narinder Kaur Bharaj is an Indian politician and lawyer, and the member of legislative assembly from Sangrur Assembly constituency. She defeated the incumbent cabinet minister Vijay Inder Singla of Indian National Congress in 2022 elections. Also, she became the youngest MLA in Punjab. She is also District youth president of Aam Aadmi Party.
Election for the Sixteenth Legislative Assembly was held in the Indian state of Punjab. Polling was done on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes declaration of results was done on 10 March 2022. The Fifteenth Punjab assembly was dissolved on 11 March 2022. The dissolution was necessitated after the results of the election was declared on 10 March. In the Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly, 92 members of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party form the treasury benches. The main opposition party in the assembly is Indian National Congress with 18 seats. The other parties which are in opposition are the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and independents. AAP MLA, Kultar Singh Sandhwan was announced as the speaker of the assembly.
The 2024 Indian general election was held in Punjab on 1 June 2024 to elect 13 members of the 18th Lok Sabha.