Nanaji Deshmukh | |
|---|---|
 Deshmukh on a 2017 stamp of India | |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 22 November 1999 – 21 November 2005 | |
| Constituency | Nominated |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 1977–1980 | |
| Preceded by | Chandra Bhal Mani Tiwari |
| Succeeded by | Chandra Bhal Mani Tiwari |
| Constituency | Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh (1916-10-11)11 October 1916 |
| Died | 27 February 2010(2010-02-27) (aged 93) Chitrakoot,Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Political party | Bharatiya Jana Sangh |
| Alma mater | Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani |
| Awards |  Bharat Ratna (January 2019) Padma Vibhushan (1999) |
Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh (pronunciationⓘ; 11 October 1916 – 27 February 2010), better known asNanaji Deshmukh, was an Indian social activist and politician. He worked in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance. He was posthumously awarded theBharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award in 2019 by theGovernment of India. He was a leader of theBharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the precursor to theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alongside being a member of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), aright-wingHindutvaparamilitary organisation.[1][2]
Nanaji was born on 11 October 1916 into aMarathiDeshastha Brahmin family[3][4] inParbhani district,Hyderabad State,British India. He worked as a vegetable seller to raise money for his education.[5]
He went to high school inSikar, where he was given a scholarship. He studied in Birla College.[6] As a child, he was inspired byBal Gangadhar Tilak.[7]
Then RSS chiefM. S. Golwalkar sent him to Gorakhpur (U.P) asPracharak (full-time functionary). He rose to be theSaha Prant Pracharak of the whole of Uttar Pradesh.[8]
Deshmukh's family had always had been in close contact withK. B. Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS and an activist forHindutva, a Hindu nationalist ideology.[9]
In 1940, after Hedgewar's death, Deshmukh joined the RSS. He was sent toUttar Pradesh as aPracharak. AtAgra, he metDeendayal Upadhyaya, the leader of the BJS. Later, he had to stay in aDharmashala but had to keep on changingDharmashalas as no one was allowed to stay there for more than three days consecutively. Ultimately, he was given shelter by Baba Raghavdas, reportedly on condition that he would cook meals for him.[10]
Within three years, almost 250Sangh Shakhas commenced in and around Gorakhpur. He established India's firstVidya Bharati, the educational wing of the RSS, inGorakhpur in 1950.[11][12]
When in 1947, the RSS decided to launch two journals (Rashtradharma andPanchjanya) as well as a newspaper,Swadesh, Deshmukh was given the role of the managing director.[13]
Following theassassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 byNathuram Godse, who has connections with the RSS, the organisation faced significant political backlash, culminating in a government-imposed ban. In response to this political crackdown, the organisation adopted a more covert approach to continue disseminating its ideological materials. Deshmukh emerged as a key figure during this period, playing a central role in orchestrating underground publication efforts.[14]
When the ban on the RSS was lifted and the BJS came into being, Deshmukh was asked by Golwalkar to take charge of the party inUttar Pradesh as a general secretary.[15]
Deshmukh's groundwork was a great help in strengthening the BJS at the grassroots.[16] His relations withRam Manohar Lohia helped bring the BJS closer to other socialist parties in the country. Lohia and Deshmukh's association led to the first non-Congress coalition government inUttar Pradesh after the1967 state elections.[17]
Later,Morarji Desai, who became the prime minister heading theJanata Party government offered him the Cabinet portfolio of Industry, but Deshmukh declined the offer. Deshmukh had won in the 1977 election held after revocation ofthe Emergency with a comfortable margin from the BalrampurLok Sabha constituency of Uttar Pradesh.[11]
He was nominated to theRajya Sabha by the NDA coalition government, under prime ministerAtal Bihari Vajpayee, in 1999.[18]
Following his retirement from active political life, Nanaji Deshmukh dedicated himself to the work of the Deendayal Research Institute, an organisation he had founded in 1969.[19]
He did work towards the anti-poverty and minimum needs programme. Other areas of his work were agriculture and cottage industry, rural health and rural education. Deshmukh assumed chairmanship of the institute after leaving politics and devoted all his time to building up the institute. He was also instrumental in carrying out social restructuring programme in over 500 villages of bothUttar Pradesh andMadhya Pradesh states of India.[11]
He also establishedChitrakoot Gramoday Vishwavidyalaya inChitrakoot, India's first rural University, and served as its Chancellor.[11]
Deshmukh was awarded India's second highest civilian award, thePadma Vibhushan, in 1999, by Vajpayee's BJP government.[7] In 2019, he was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian award, theBharat Ratna, by Narendra Modi's BJP government.[20]
Deshmukh died on 27 February 2010 in the premises ofChitrakoot Gramoday Vishwavidyalaya that he established. He was unwell for some time due to old age and had refused to be taken to Delhi for treatment. Hebequeathed his body to the Dadhichi Dehdaan Sanstha of New Delhi, and so his body was sent to theAll India Institute of Medical Sciences formedical research.[11]
Nanaji family was in close contact with Dr. Hedgewar who was a regular visitor to the family of Nanaji.
its auspices were published the magazine 'Rashtra Dharma', the weekly ' Panchajanya' and the daily 'Swadesh'. Of these, the last two were edited by Panditji. Nanaji Deshmukh was the managing director of publication
A different strategy was adopted keeping the ban in mind and Nanaji was the brain behind underground publication work by the RSS those days.
