Jitendra Prasada

Jitendra Prasada Biography

Jitendra Prasada was a prominent politician from Uttar Pradesh belonging to Indian National Congress. He served as the Vice-President of the Indian National Congress and Political Advisor to two PMs of India, Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao. His son Jitin Prasada is a young politician associated with Congress Party who served as one of the youngest cabinet ministers of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government. He was married to Kanta Prasada who runs an NGO 'SRIJAN' Jitendra Prasada Foundation. His daughter Janhavi Prasada, is a documentary filmmaker. His family has close links to Tagore’s family. His grandmother Purnima Devi was the niece of Rabindra Nath Tagore and the youngest daughter of Hemendranath Tagore.

He was born on 12 November 1938 in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He was born into a political family of congress leaders. His father Jyoti Prasada was a Congress party member who was associated with local party body. His family is related to the intellectual family of Bengal, Tagore family. His grandmother was a member of Tagore family. His family is also related to the royal Sikh family of Kapurthala State, as his mother was a member of this royal family. His grandfather Jwala Prasada was a Colonial Civil Service officer.

Jitendra entered active politics in the 1970s and rose to prominence in the 1980s. In 1970 he became MLA for the first time from Uttar Pradesh. However he contested Lok Sabha Elections the following year and was elected to the 5th Lok Sabha from Shahjahanpur constituency. He got elected to Lok Sabha in 1980 and 1984 too from the same constituency. As a parliamentarian who got elected in 1984 Lok Sabha elections, he served as the Political Advisor of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He also served as Political Secretary to P.V. Narasimha Rao during his tenure as PM.

After serving as a member of Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 1999, he got elected to Lok Sabha for the fourth term in 1999. In November 2000, he contested Congress Party's presidential election against Sonia Gandhi, but was defeated. He died a couple of months later in January 2001.

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Updated: June 26, 2016