Murli Deora: Former Union Minister who got smoking at public places banned in India

Murli DeoraBorn in 1937, veteran Congress leader and the party's face in Mumbai Murli Deora passed away Monday owing to prolonged illness. His death is grieved by many including his political opponents who regarded him as a warm hearted leader.Suffering from Cancer, he had reportedly been discharged from the Breach Candy hospital two days ago.Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and other leaders will be in Mumbai today to offer their condolences.As a politician, Murli Deora campaigned against public smoking. He relentlessly strived to get ban imposed on public smoking so that millions of innocent people could be saved from becoming victims of passive smoking, which is evidently more injurious to health.In 2008, Murli's dream became a reality and smoking was prohibited in public places.In October 2, 2008, smoking in public places was prohibited nationwide. The Supreme Court passed the interim orders on a public interest petition by the same Murli Deora seeking a direction to cigarette manufacturers to pay at least Rs.500 crores as compensation to be shared by the kin of those who have lost their lives or health owing to smoking. Deora also sought a ban on the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to minors.In agreement with former Congress MP, the Supreme issued a statement,“Tobacco is universally regarded as one of the major public health hazards and is responsible directly or indirectly for an estimated eight lakh deaths annually in the country.It has also been found that treatment of tobacco related diseases and the loss of productivity caused therein cost the country almost Rs. 13,500 crores annually, which more than offsets all the benefits accruing in the form of revenue and employment generated by tobacco industry”.Murli Deora was born in Mumbai but his native state was Rajasthan. He completed his Bachelors in Arts from Mumbai University.Before joining politics, Murli was an industrialist cum social worker. He was said to be very close to the Gandhi family.Murli Deora started his political career from Mumbai Municipal Corporation way back in 1968 when he was elected Corporator. Murli quickly rose to party ranks but limited himself to Mumbai.In 1977, he was elected Mayor of Mumbai with Shiv Sena's support.Murli was one such politician who shared cordial relations with politicians across party lines. He first contested the Lok Sabha polls from Mumbai South constituency in 1980 but lost to the Janata Party's Ratansingh Rajda.Later he went on to defeat BJP's Jayawantiben Mehta by a huge margin.Following this victory he managed to retain his seat in 1989 and 1991. But in 1996 and 1999, he lost it to BJP candidate whom he had defeated - Jayawantiben Mehta.In 2004, Murli prepared his son Milind to contest from the same seat, which he did manage to win from Mehta in the 2004 Lok Sabha Election from Congress ticket.In the same year, Murli Deora was elected to the Rajya Sabha . He served in the Union Cabinet as Petroleum Minister during UPA 1.He was closely associated with the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan and the Indian Red Cross Society.He was also the President of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee for 22 years from 1981 to 2003.In the UPA II, Deora retained the portfolio of Petroleum and Natural Gas under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.Murli developed cancer and despite all medical reatment his health continued to deteriorate. He continued to be a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha.Murli Deora's political career started with contesting civic polls in 1975 and continued for around four decades. He headed the city party unit of the Congress for 22 years. He was known to be party's strong organisational and resources man.Murli was loved by all. On hearing of his death, several leaders offered condolences.Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of Deora and said his warm nature made him popular across party lines. “Just yesterday I had spoken to Shri Murli Deora's family & asked about his health. Very sad to hear the unfortunate news today,” he said on Twitter.“My deepest condolences to the Deora family on Shri Murli Deora's demise. May his soul rest in peace.Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the country has lost a veteran Parliamentarian. “I am deeply saddened by the demise of Murli Deora.We have lost a veteran Parliamentarian and an experienced administrator,” the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said