VK Malhotra: Politician who forged BJP in Delhi, groomed future leaders

New Delhi: A heavyweight in Delhi politics and one of the last surviving Jana Sangh-era politicians, Vijay Kumar Malhotra's interests bled into several spheres, and sports and journalism were only two of them.

His death at 94 on Tuesday drew homilies from top leaders of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hailed him as a people's man who kept his ear to the ground.

A beeline was formed outside his house in the national capital shortly after his death was announced at 6 am.

With his demise, the Kedar Nath Sahni-Madan Lal Khurana-VK Malhotra era in Delhi also came to a close, a party leader said.

The three wielded a clout in an era when the BJP had little influence in the city, as they helped it stay afloat against a formidable Congress.

Malhotra was born in Lahore, Pakistan, on December 3, 1931. His family settled in Delhi after the Partition.

He was an early stalwart of the Delhi BJP, serving as the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, and was projected as the party's chief ministerial face in 2008 in an election that went to Sheila Dikshit, adding to her winning streak.

A five-time MP and two-time MLA from Delhi, Malhotra defeated Congress candidate Manmohan Singh from South Delhi in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls. Singh went on to become prime minister in 2004.

Malhotra was the only BJP winner from Delhi in the 2004 general election that resulted in the exit of the BJP-led NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He was the president of Bhartiya Jan Sangh in Delhi from 1972 to 1975, as well as the first chief of Delhi BJP after the party's inception in 1980.

Malhotra had a doctorate in Hindi literature and administered chess and archery clubs in Delhi.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva paid homage to the man who, he said, groomed him into the politician he became, along with several more.

He called Malhotra the first "Vikas Purush" of Delhi for having overseen the construction of the city's first flyover, connecting Patel Nagar to Moti Nagar, a feat achieved when he helmed the Metropolitan Council during 1967-71.

Between 1950 and 1952, Malhotra worked as a deputy editor at Hindi daily Veer Arjun, which was published from Delhi, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the broadsheet's editor, another Delhi leader, Praveen Shankar Kapoor, said.

Malhotra was the president also of the Indian Olympic Association, the Archery Association of India, and the All India Sports Council.