Chandigarh: Former Haryana chief minister and political strongman Bansi Lal will soon have a 'development chair' in his name, a state government spokesman said here on Friday.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has announced that 'Chaudhary Bansi Lal Development Chair' would be set up at the Kurukshetra University in recognition of the significant contribution he made to the all-round development of Haryana.

Bansi Lal, who also was the union defence, railways and transport minister in the mid-1970s in then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's cabinet, is credited with much of the development in Haryana after it was carved out as a full-fledged state from Punjab on November 1, 1966.

"Haryana was a backward state, but Chaudhary Bansi Lal put it on the track of development. He worked for the development of Haryana like a disciplined soldier," Hooda said.

Kurukshetra University Vice-Chancellor D.D.S. Sandhu said the Chair would be set up in the university's department of economics. He said Bansi Lal had also played a key role in the development of the university and guided it to be one of the leading universities in the country.

The chair will do research in areas of development and economics.

Bansi Lal was the chief minister of Haryana four times between 1968 and 1999. His governments were credited with the state's development, especially providing electricity and metallic road linkages to all villages in the state.

He got elected to the state assembly seven times since 1967, was elected to the Rajya Sabha twice (1960 and 1976) and the Lok Sabha thrice (1980, 1985 and 1989).

Bansi Lal, who died March 28, 2006, dominated Haryana's political scene for decades. IANS