# Harbans Kapoor

Harbans Kapoor (7 January 1946 – 13 December 2021) was an Indian politician who was a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttarakhand State. He was Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from 2007 to 2012. He was elected to the assembly from Dehra Khas constituency. After the first defeat in 1985, he never lost Legislative Assembly elections and won for a record eight terms in a row (four times as the member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and four as the member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly) from Dehradun.

## Early life and education

Kapoor was born in Bannu, North-West Frontier Province in 1946 to a Hindkowan Hindu family. His family settled in Dehradun after Partition of India. He completed his early schooling from St. Joseph's Academy, Dehradun. He graduated in Law from D.A.V. Post Graduate College, Dehradun.

## Politics

Starting as a grass root level politician, he joined the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha in 1989 as a member of the 10th Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha from Dehradun constituency, followed by the 11th Vidhan Sabha, 12th Vidhan Sabha and the 13th Vidhan Sabha. He also maintained his victory in the first election of the new state of Uttarakhand in 2002 and continued his victory spree in all the elections after the inception. In 2007, he was unanimously elected the Speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly. He was one of the oldest leaders in Uttarakhand BJP.

## Later life

Kapoor died on 13 December 2021, at the age of 75 at his home in Dehradun from Heart Attack.

## Positions held

| Year | Description |
| 1989 - 1991 | Elected to 10th Uttar Pradesh Assembly |
| 1991 - 1993 | Elected to 11th Uttar Pradesh Assembly Minister of State for Rural Development (1991-92) |
| 1993 - 1996 | Elected to 12th Uttar Pradesh Assembly Member - Committee on Petitions (1993-95) |
| 1996 - 2000 | Elected to 13th Uttar Pradesh Assembly Member - Public Accounts Committee (1997-98) |
| 2000 - 2002 | Elected to Interim Uttarakhand Assembly Minister of State for Urban Development, Housing, Labour and Employment (2001-02) |
| 2002 - 2007 | Elected to 1st Uttarakhand Assembly Member - Public Accounts Committee (2002-04) Member - Committee on Assembly Rules (2002-04) Member - Committee on Housing (2004-07) |
| 2007 - 2012 | Elected to 2nd Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker - Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly (2007-12) Chairman - Committee on Assembly Rules (2007-12) Chairman - Business Advisory Committee (2008-12) |
| 2012 - 2017 | Elected to 3rd Uttarakhand Assembly |
| 2017 - 2021 | Elected to 4th Uttarakhand Assembly |

## Elections contested

| Year | Constituency | Result | Vote percentage | Opposition Candidate | Opposition Party | Opposition vote percentage |
| 1985 | Dehradun | Lost | 22.85% | Hira Singh Bisht | INC | 66.76% |
| 1989 | Dehradun | Won | 42.84% | Hira Singh Bisht | INC | 31.11% |
| 1991 | Dehradun | Won | 54.14% | Vinod Chandola | INC | 31.30% |
| 1993 | Dehradun | Won | 53.74% | Dinesh Agrawal | INC | 38.55% |
| 1996 | Dehradun | Won | 56.37% | Dinesh Agrawal | INC | 17.98% |
| 2002 | Dehradun Cantonment | Won | NA | Sanjay Sharma | INC | NA |
| 2007 | Dehradun Cantonment | Won | NA | Lal Chand Sharma | INC | NA |
| 2012 | Dehradun Cantonment | Won | NA | Devendra Singh Sethi | INC | NA |
| 2017 | Dehradun Cantonment | Won | 56.99% | Suryakant Dhasmana | INC | 33.90% |