Motilal Vora


Motilal Vora is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He was the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Early life

Motilal Vora was born on 20 December 1927 at Nimbi Jodha in Jodhpur State of British India's Rajputana Agency to a Pushkarna Brahmin family. His parents were Mohanlal Vora and Amba Bai. His forefathers came from Nimbi Jodha, and prior to that from Phalaudi. He received his education at Raipur and Kolkata. He had also worked with several newspapers for many years. He married Shanti Devi Vora. The couple have four daughters and two sons. His son Arun Vora is an MLA from Durg, having won three elections as MLA.

State politics

In 1968, Vora, then, a member of Samajwadi party, became a member of the Municipal Committee of Durg. In 1970, he, with the help of Prabhat Tiwari, was introduced to Pt. Kishorilal Shukla of INC and joined INC. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh in 1972 on an INC ticket. He was elected to Vidhan Sabha again in 1977 and 1980. He was appointed as a minister of State in Arjun Singh's Cabinet, and was in-charge of the Higher Education Department. He was elevated to the Cabinet Minister in 1983. He also served as the Deputy Chairman of Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation during 1981-84.
On 13 March 1985, Vora was appointed Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. He resigned from the post of Chief Minister on 13 February 1988, to join the Union Government.

National politics

On 14 February 1988, Vora became a member of the Rajya Sabha, and assumed the office of Union Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Civil Aviation. He was a cabinet minister in Government of India. He was appointed as Governor of Uttar Pradesh on May 16, 1993 and held office till May 3, 1996. Motilal Vora was in 1998–99 Member of the 12th Lok Sabha.

Role in the Indian National Congress

Motilal Vora is very close to High Command of INC, and has supported nomination of Rahul Gandhi as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate. In the 1980s, he served as the President of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, the party's state unit.
Vora holds important positions in all the three entities involved in the National Herald Case: the Associated Journals Limited, the Young Indian and the All India Congress Committee. He became the chairman and managing director of AJL on 22 March 2002. He has also served as the AICC treasurer since before that. In addition, he has been a 12% shareholder and a Director of Young Indian.