Yashwantrao Chavan
Encyclopedia
Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan (12 March 1913 - 25 November 1984) was the first Chief Minister
of Maharashtra
after the division of Bombay State
and the fifth Deputy Prime Minister of India
. He was a strong Congress leader, Cooperative leader, social activist and writer. He was popularly known as Leader of Common People. He advocated socialist democracy in his speeches and articles and was instrumental in establishing co-operatives in Maharashtra for the betterment of the farmers.
family on 12 March 1913 in the village of Devrashtre in Satara
District (now in Sangli
District) of Maharashtra State in India. He lost his father in his early childhood and was brought up by his uncle and mother. His mother gave him valuable lessons in self-dependency and patriotism. From his childhood he was fascinated by the freedom struggle of India. Despite the adverse family situation, Yashwantrao managed to get educated and obtained his B.A. in history and political science
from Bombay University in 1938. In this period, he was involved in many social activities and was closely associated with the Congress party and its leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru
, Sardar Patel and Keshavrao Jedhe
. In 1940, Yashwantrao became President of Satara District Congress. In 1941 he passed his LLB. In 1942, he married Venutai at Phaltan
in Dist Satara.
led by Mahatma Gandhi. In 1932, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for hoisting the Indian flag on 26 January 1932 in Satara. He was one of the delegates at the historic Bombay session of the A.I.C.C. in 1942 that gave the call for Quit India and he was subsequently arrested for his participation in the movement. Yashwantrao was finally released from jail in 1944.
.
. From 1957 to 1960 he was elected to the All India Congress Working Committee. He was one of the architects of the state of Maharashtra through his support for the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement. On 1 May 1960, Yashwantrao Chavan became the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Chavan's vision for Maharashtra for the development envisaged the equal development of both the industrial and agricultural sectors across all the regions of the state. He sought to realise this vision through the co-operative movement.
Legislation regarding democratic decentralized bodies and the Agricultural Land Ceiling Act were passed during his regime as CM.
In 1962, Yashwantrao Chavan was appointed Defense Minister of India in the wake of India-China Border Conflict. After the resignation of Krishna Menon as Defense Minister in 1962, Pandit Nehru called upon Yashwantrao Chavan from Maharashtra to the Central Government to take charge as Defence Minister. He handled the delicate post-war situation firmly and took several decisions to empower the armed forces and negotiated, along with Pandit Nehru, with China to stop the war. He was the Defense Minister during the Indo-Pakistan War of September 1965.
In the next general election, Yashwantrao Chavan was elected unopposed as Member of Parliament from the Nashik parliamentary constituency. On 14 November 1966 he was appointed Home Minister of India. On 26 June 1970 he was appointed as Finance Minister of India and was appointed the Foreign Minister on 11 October 1974. In June 1975 an internal emergency was declared in India and in the subsequent general elections, the Congress was routed. In the new Parliament, Yashwantrao Chavan became the Leader of opposition in 1977.
In 1978-79, Yashwantrao Chavan quit Congress and joined Congress (Urs) along with Devaraj Urs, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
, A.K. Antony, Sharad Pawar
, etc. He was appointed as Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shri Charan Singh.
, A.K. Antony, Sharad Pawar
, and Yashwantrao Chavan. On the other side, Indira Gandhi established her own party christened Congress (I) and it included leaders like Shankar Dayal Sharma, Umashankar Dixit, Kamruddin Ali Ahmad, Shri. C. Subramanian, Barrister A.R.Antulay and Gulabrao Patil
. Yashwantrao Chavan's political career suffered a major setback following his decision to move away from Indira Gandhi. Congress (Urs) disintegrated and Devaraj Urs himself joined the Janata Party
and Congress(Urs) was renamed the Indian Congress (Socialist)
.
In the general elections of 1980, Congress (I) won a majority in Parliament and came to power under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. In this election, Yashwantrao Chavan was only candidate elected from Maharashtra as a MP on a Congress (S) ticket. In 1981 Yashwantrao Chavan returned to Congress (I) and was appointed the Chairman of the Eight Finance Commission of India in 1982.
Yashwantrao Chavan died of a heart attack on 25 November 1984 in Delhi. He was 71. He was cremated in Karad with full state honours on 27 November 1984.
In 1984, an engineering college named Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering
was established in Nagpur
.
In 1989, an open university named 'Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University
' was established in Maharashtra.
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
after the division of Bombay State
Bombay State
The Bombay State was a state of India, dissolved with the formation of Maharashtra and Gujarat states on May 1, 1960.-History:During British rule, portions of the western coast of India under direct British rule were part of the Bombay Presidency...
and the fifth Deputy Prime Minister of India
Deputy Prime Minister of India
The Deputy Prime Minister of India is a member of the Indian cabinet in the Indian government. The post is not a constitutional post and seldom carries any specific powers. Generally a Deputy Prime Minister also holds other key portfolios like Home minister or Finance Minister...
. He was a strong Congress leader, Cooperative leader, social activist and writer. He was popularly known as Leader of Common People. He advocated socialist democracy in his speeches and articles and was instrumental in establishing co-operatives in Maharashtra for the betterment of the farmers.
Introduction
The legendary leader was born in a peasantPeasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
family on 12 March 1913 in the village of Devrashtre in Satara
Satara
Satara is a city located in the Satara District of Maharashtra state of India. The town is 2320 ft. above sea-level, near the confluence of the Krishna and its tributary river Venna. The city was the capital of the Maratha empire in the 17th century, hence one of the the historical cities of...
District (now in Sangli
Sangli
Sangli is a city in the state of Maharashtra of India. Sangli is known as the Turmeric city for its vast production of Turmeric. Sangli is situated on the banks of river Krishna and is the largest market place for Turmeric in Asia and houses many sugar factories, which it is also noted for...
District) of Maharashtra State in India. He lost his father in his early childhood and was brought up by his uncle and mother. His mother gave him valuable lessons in self-dependency and patriotism. From his childhood he was fascinated by the freedom struggle of India. Despite the adverse family situation, Yashwantrao managed to get educated and obtained his B.A. in history and political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Bombay University in 1938. In this period, he was involved in many social activities and was closely associated with the Congress party and its leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, Sardar Patel and Keshavrao Jedhe
Keshavrao Jedhe
Keshavrao Marutrao Jedhe was a leading Freedom Fighter and Congress Leader from Pune at the time of Indian Independence and Chairman of Samyukta Maharashtra Movement in 1956...
. In 1940, Yashwantrao became President of Satara District Congress. In 1941 he passed his LLB. In 1942, he married Venutai at Phaltan
Phaltan
Phaltan is a city, a taluka and a municipal council in Satara district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The town is about 59 km north-east of the city of Satara...
in Dist Satara.
Background
Yashwantrao Chavan was an active participant in the struggle for independence of India. In 1930, he was fined for his participation in the Non-cooperation MovementNon-cooperation movement
The non-cooperation movement was a significant phase of the Indian struggle for freedom from British rule which lasted for years. This movement, which lasted from September 1920 to February 1922 and was led by Mohandas Gandhi, and supported by the Indian National Congress. It aimed to resist...
led by Mahatma Gandhi. In 1932, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for hoisting the Indian flag on 26 January 1932 in Satara. He was one of the delegates at the historic Bombay session of the A.I.C.C. in 1942 that gave the call for Quit India and he was subsequently arrested for his participation in the movement. Yashwantrao was finally released from jail in 1944.
Early political career
In 1946, he was first elected as MLA from the South Satara constituency. In the same year he was appointed as parliamentary secretary to the Home Minister of Bombay State. In the next government of Moraji Desai he was appointed as Minister of Civil Supplies, Social Welfare and Forests. In 1953 he was a signatory to the Nagpur Pact that assured equitable development of all regions of MaharashtraMaharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
.
Sanyukta Maharashtra Movement
In 1957 Yashwantrao Chavan was elected from the Karad constituency. This time he was elected as Leader of Congress Legislative Party and became Chief Minister of the bilingual Bombay stateBombay State
The Bombay State was a state of India, dissolved with the formation of Maharashtra and Gujarat states on May 1, 1960.-History:During British rule, portions of the western coast of India under direct British rule were part of the Bombay Presidency...
. From 1957 to 1960 he was elected to the All India Congress Working Committee. He was one of the architects of the state of Maharashtra through his support for the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement. On 1 May 1960, Yashwantrao Chavan became the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
First Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Vision for MaharashtraChavan's vision for Maharashtra for the development envisaged the equal development of both the industrial and agricultural sectors across all the regions of the state. He sought to realise this vision through the co-operative movement.
Legislation regarding democratic decentralized bodies and the Agricultural Land Ceiling Act were passed during his regime as CM.
Role of Yashwantrao Chavan in Central Government
Apart from being first Chief Minister of Maharashtra, he also served several times as a cabinet minister in the Central Government of India heading the portfolios of Home, Defence, Finance and External Affairs and later went on to become the Deputy Prime Minister of India.In 1962, Yashwantrao Chavan was appointed Defense Minister of India in the wake of India-China Border Conflict. After the resignation of Krishna Menon as Defense Minister in 1962, Pandit Nehru called upon Yashwantrao Chavan from Maharashtra to the Central Government to take charge as Defence Minister. He handled the delicate post-war situation firmly and took several decisions to empower the armed forces and negotiated, along with Pandit Nehru, with China to stop the war. He was the Defense Minister during the Indo-Pakistan War of September 1965.
In the next general election, Yashwantrao Chavan was elected unopposed as Member of Parliament from the Nashik parliamentary constituency. On 14 November 1966 he was appointed Home Minister of India. On 26 June 1970 he was appointed as Finance Minister of India and was appointed the Foreign Minister on 11 October 1974. In June 1975 an internal emergency was declared in India and in the subsequent general elections, the Congress was routed. In the new Parliament, Yashwantrao Chavan became the Leader of opposition in 1977.
In 1978-79, Yashwantrao Chavan quit Congress and joined Congress (Urs) along with Devaraj Urs, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy at Hyderabad, was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India from 29 February 1964 to 30 September 1971. On 3 June 1977 he was elected president of the Indian National Congress.-Early life:...
, A.K. Antony, Sharad Pawar
Sharad Pawar
Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar , popularly known as SAHEB , is the president of the Nationalist Congress Party which he founded in 1999, after separating from the Indian National Congress...
, etc. He was appointed as Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shri Charan Singh.
Split in Congress
At the end of 1978, at its annual session in Bangalore, the Congress split into two namely; Congress (Indira) and Congress (Urs). The important leaders who joined the Congress Urs were Devaraj Urs, Kasu Brahmananda ReddyKasu Brahmananda Reddy
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy at Hyderabad, was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India from 29 February 1964 to 30 September 1971. On 3 June 1977 he was elected president of the Indian National Congress.-Early life:...
, A.K. Antony, Sharad Pawar
Sharad Pawar
Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar , popularly known as SAHEB , is the president of the Nationalist Congress Party which he founded in 1999, after separating from the Indian National Congress...
, and Yashwantrao Chavan. On the other side, Indira Gandhi established her own party christened Congress (I) and it included leaders like Shankar Dayal Sharma, Umashankar Dixit, Kamruddin Ali Ahmad, Shri. C. Subramanian, Barrister A.R.Antulay and Gulabrao Patil
Gulabrao Patil
Gulabrao Patil was a Co-operative Leader, Member of Parliament -Rajya Sabha India from 1966–1978, an Member of the Legislative Council of Maharashtra 1983-87 and President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee 1981-82.Famous quote: Power without Prestige, is a Gun without ...
. Yashwantrao Chavan's political career suffered a major setback following his decision to move away from Indira Gandhi. Congress (Urs) disintegrated and Devaraj Urs himself joined the Janata Party
Janata Party
The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
and Congress(Urs) was renamed the Indian Congress (Socialist)
Indian Congress (Socialist)
Indian Congress was a political party in India between 1978 and 1986. The party was formed through a split in the Indian National Congress. Initially the party was known as the Indian National Congress and was led by D. Devraj Urs. It broke away from the parent party in 1978 following Indira...
.
In the general elections of 1980, Congress (I) won a majority in Parliament and came to power under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. In this election, Yashwantrao Chavan was only candidate elected from Maharashtra as a MP on a Congress (S) ticket. In 1981 Yashwantrao Chavan returned to Congress (I) and was appointed the Chairman of the Eight Finance Commission of India in 1982.
Yashwantrao Chavan died of a heart attack on 25 November 1984 in Delhi. He was 71. He was cremated in Karad with full state honours on 27 November 1984.
Literature
Yashwantrao Chavan took a keen interest in literature. He established the Marathi Sahitya Mandal and supported the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan(Conference). He was very closely associated with many poets, editors and several Marathi and Hindi writers. He had planned to write his autobiography in three parts. The first part covers his early years in Satara district. Since his native place is situated on the banks of Krishna River he named the first volume as "Krishna Kath". His years as the Chief Minister of the bilingual Bombay state and later as that of the newly formed Maharashtra state were spent in Mumbai and so the proposed name for the second volume was "Sagar Tir". Later in 1962 he was appointed Defence Minister of India by Nehru. From then on he was in Delhi until his death in 1984; so he had proposed the name "Yamuna Kath" for his third volume. He was able to complete and publish only the first volume.Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishtan (Memorial)
In 1985, Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishtan (Memorial) was established in Mumbai. The objective of setting up the memorial was to perpetuate his memory by acknowledging his rich, outstanding and valuable contribution to society and democratic institution and development process in India's socio-political life and to undertake activities and programme particularly for the elevation of common man and promote his cherished ideas nurtured in freedom struggle and thereby strengthening Socio-economical fiber of India.In 1984, an engineering college named Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering
Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering
Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering is an autonomous engineering college under the University of Nagpur, India. It is located on the outskirts of the Nagpur city in Hingna . The college was established in 1984. It is named in memory of Yashwantrao Chavan, first Chief Minister of...
was established in Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
.
In 1989, an open university named 'Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University
Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University
The Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University was established in July 1989 by Act XX- of the Maharashtra State Legislature, named after Yashwantrao Chavan, Maharashtra’s great political leader and builder of modern Maharashtra. It is the fifth Open University in India...
' was established in Maharashtra.