The demise of the State’s Finance and Parliamentary Affairs minister Prakash Pant has left the state without a statesman and public representative genuinely respected even by his staunch political rivals apart from the public. Known for his knowledge, determination and humble mannerisms, Pant was born to Mohan Chandra Pant and Kamala Pant on November 11, 1960. A graduate and diploma in pharmacy, he resigned from a government job in 1984 as the job was not leaving him free to undertake social service. He then joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Apart from politics and social service, Pant was also a national level shooter. He had won the silver medal at the GV Mavalankar shooting championships at Coimbatore in 2004 and a gold medal in State level shooting championship held in the same year. He considered Pundit Deen Dayal Upadhyay as his idol and believed that serving people was equal to serving god.
His political journey began earlier in 1977 when he became active in student politics. Later in 1988 he was elected as a member of the Pithoragarh municipal council. About a decade later in 1998 he was elected as a member to the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. In 2001, he was became the Speaker of the first Vidhan Sabha of Uttarakhand after the state’s formation in 2000. Later in 2002, he was elected as an MLA from Pithoragarh constituency. In the second elected State government during 2007, he was made a cabinet minister and later in the fourth elected state government in 2017 too he was made the cabinet minister with the important portfolio of Finance among others.