Jana Krishnamurthi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 6thNational President of the Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| In office 2001–2002 | |
| Preceded by | Bangaru Laxman |
| Succeeded by | Venkaiah Naidu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1928-05-24)24 May 1928 |
| Died | 25 September 2007(2007-09-25) (aged 79) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Spouse | Bhagyalakshmi[1] |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
K. Jana Krishnamurthi (24 May 1928 – 25 September 2007) was an Indian political leader who rose to be the President of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2001. A former UnionLaw Minister and a member of theParliament of India, Krishnamurthi was the second person from Tamil Nadu to head a national party in India afterKamaraj.[2]
Krishnamurthi was born during the lateBritish Raj in May 1926 in the town ofMadurai inTamil Nadu. An alumnus of the Chennai Law College, he gave up his successful law practice in Madurai in 1965. He was persuaded byM. S. Golwalkar, the then chief of the RSS, to enter politics.
An active member of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from 1940, Krishnamurthi took over as the General Secretary of theBharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) in Tamil Nadu at the instance ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee. He played an active part in building an equity for the relatively unknown BJS in South India.
In 1974, whenKatchatheevu was ceded by India to Sri Lanka, he became the first Tamil leader to challenge it legally. On a request fromAtal Behari Vajpayee, he filed a petition in the Madras High Court challenging the secession of Katchatheevu.[3]
In 1975 whenemergency was declared, he was the secretary of the resistance movement in Tamil Nadu. In 1977 when BJS merged with theJanata Party, he became the General Secretary of that party's Tamil Nadu unit. In 1980, he helped found theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along withAtal Bihari Vajpayee,Lal Krishna Advani, SS Bhandari,Kushabhau Thakre and Jaganatha Rao Joshi. He was the founder National Secretary. In 1983 became one of the General Secretaries and from 1985 he was the Vice-President of the Party.[4]
From 1980 to 1990, he helped the BJP expand in the four Southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
In 1993 he moved toDelhi at the request of L. K. Advani and set up the Intellectual Cells of the BJP on Economic, Defence and Foreign Affairs. From 1995 onwards he was in charge of the BJP Headquarters. He also served as the Spokesperson of the Party. In 1998, Krishnamurthi contested theLok Sabha election from South Chennai and lost by a very small margin. On 14 March 2001 he took over as the President of the BJP fromBangaru Laxman. He held office until June 2002.
Krishnamurthi then became the Union Law Minister in the cabinet ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee.[5] He stepped down in a year, due to ill health. He was aRajya Sabha Member of Parliament from the State ofGujarat[6] and an active member of the Parliament Standing Committees on External Affairs and Defence. He was also the Chairman of the Petitions Committee. His tenure will be remembered for his frank and forthright report on Petrol Adulteration.
Krishnamurthi died on 25 September 2007. He succumbed to a cardio-respiratory arrest at a private hospital in Chennai. His wife, Bhagyalakshmi died on 14 May 2021. He is survived by two sons (Krishnaswamy and Anantha Narayan) and three daughters (Radhika, Bharathi, and Shanthi).