<Li> After he parted company with Congress in 1996, Bansi Lal set up the Haryana Vikas Party and his campaign against prohibition propelled him to power in the assembly polls the same year . </Li> <P> Bansi Lal became the Chief Minister of Haryana four times in 1968, 1972, 1986 and 1996 . He was the third chief minister of Haryana after Bhagwat Dayal Sharma and Rao Birender Singh . He became Haryana chief minister for the first time on 31 May 1968 and remained in office till 13 March 1972 . On 14 March 1972, he occupied the top post in the state for the second time and was in office till 29 November 1975 . The third and fourth times he was appointed chief minister was from 5 June 1986 to 19 June 1987 and 11 May 1996 to 23 July 1999 . </P> <P> Bansi Lal was elected to the state assembly seven times, the first time being in 1967 . After Haryana was formed in 1966, much of the state's industrial and agricultural development, especially creation of infrastructure, took place due to Lal's initiatives . He was elected to the state assembly for seven times in 1967, 1968, 1972, 1986, 1991 and 2000 . He was responsible for electrifying all villages in Haryana during his tenure as chief minister in the late sixties and seventies . He was also the pioneer of highway tourism in the state--a model later adopted by a number of states . He is regarded by many as an "Iron man" who was always close to reality and took keen interest in the upliftment of the community. Lal became one of the first Chief Ministers to visit Israel, when he led a delegation of agriculturalists and sarpanches to the country in 1971 . </P> <P> Bansi Lal did not contest the assembly elections in 2005 but his sons Surender Singh and Ranbir Singh Mahendra were elected to the state assembly . Surender Singh died in a helicopter crash near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on 31 March 2005 . </P>

Who is known as iron man of haryana