Jitendra Prasada

Jitendra Prasada (12 November 1938 – 16 January 2001) was an Indian politician and a former Vice-President of the Indian National Congress. He was also the Political Advisor to two Prime Ministers of India, Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and P V Narasimha Rao in 1994.

Prasad fought Congress Party's presidential election against Sonia Gandhi on 9 November 2000 but he was defeated. He died on 16 January 2001 in New Delhi after a brief illness.

Personal life

Jitendra Prasad was born to Kunwar Jyoti Prasad and Pamela Devi at Shahjahanpur on 12 November 1938. His grand mother Purnima Devi was the niece of Rabindranath Tagore and mother Pamela Devi belonged to the royal family of Kapurthala State

He was educated at Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences. Other institutes include Sherwood College, Nainital, Colvin Taluqdars College, Lucknow. He married Kanta Prasad on 27 January 1973. This couple have a son, Jitin Prasada and a daughter, Jahnavi Prasad. The family of Jitendra Prasad resides at Prasad Bhawan, Shahjahanpur.

Political career

Prasad entered politics as a member of Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad in 1970. He was elected to the 5th Lok Sabha in 1971 from Shahjahanpur constituency. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 and 1984 from the same constituency. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 1999. He was again elected to the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999 from Shahjahanpur constituency.

Posts held

• President, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee since 5 January 1995;
• Vice-President, AICC, June, 1997 to April, 1998;
• Chairman, Co-operative Bank, Shahjahanpur;
• Vice-Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Celebration Committee,
• Cabinet Secretariat; General Secretary, AICC, 1985;
• Political Secretary to Rajiv Gandhi, (Congress President);
• Political Secretary to P.V. Narasimha Rao, (Congress President);
• Member,Indian Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, 1983;
• Member, Congress Working Committee, 1992 and 1997;
• Member, Estimates Committee, 1980–82;
• Member, Committee of Privileges, 1994–96;
• Member, Committee on Home Affairs, 1995–97;
• Member, Committee on Commerce;
• Member, Committee on Public Undertakings and
• Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Commerce.