Khattar pays tribute to freedom fighter Banarasi Das Gupta on birth anniversary
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On the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and former Haryana Chief Minister Banarasi Das Gupta, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar offered a respectful tribute on Thursday, November 5, 2026, honouring a leader whose life spanned the independence movement and decades of public service in the state he helped shape.
Khattar wrote in Hindi: 'स्वतंत्रता सेनानी, समाजसेवी एवं हरियाणा के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री स्व. बनारसी दास गुप्ता जी की जयंती पर उन्हें सादर नमन' — 'On the birth anniversary of freedom fighter, social worker and former Chief Minister of Haryana, the late Banarasi Das Gupta, I offer my respectful salutations.' He added that from the freedom movement to public life, Gupta always placed national interest, service to the people, and social upliftment above all else.
A legacy rooted in the freedom struggle and Haryana's early years
Banarasi Das Gupta belonged to that generation of leaders whose political identity was forged in the Indian independence movement before it was shaped by electoral office. He went on to serve as Chief Minister of Haryana, a state carved out of Punjab in 1966, during one of its formative decades. His career bridged grassroots social work and the machinery of governance — a combination that Khattar specifically invoked in his tribute, noting Gupta's consistent prioritisation of janseva (public service) and samajik utthan (social upliftment).
Khattar's personal and political connection to Haryana's history
The tribute carries particular resonance coming from Manohar Lal Khattar, himself a former Chief Minister of Haryana who now serves at the Union level as Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs. As a senior BJP leader from the state, Khattar belongs to the generation of politicians who inherited — and regularly invoke — the legacy of Haryana's early post-formation leadership. Acknowledging predecessors from across political traditions is a marker of that continuity. Khattar closed his post with a pointed tribute: Gupta's contribution to Haryana's journey of development and progress, he wrote, 'will always be remembered.'