Benegal Shiva Rao (26 February 1891 – 15 December 1975) was an Indian journalist and politician. He was a member of the

Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

and an elected representative of the

South Kanara South Canara was a district of the Madras Presidency of British India, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the capital in Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the most heterogeneous areas o ...

constituency in the First Lok Sabha (later named

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

, currently

Dakshina Kannada Dakshina Kannada district is a district of Karnataka state in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangalore. It is part of the larger Tulu Nadu region. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east ...

). He was the correspondent of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the sec ...

'' and then of the ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...

''. He was also a member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

from 1957 - 1960 and a recipient of the civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

Biography

B. Shiva Rao was born in

on 26 February 1891 into a distinguished family. His father was B. Raghavendra Rao, a renowned medical practitioner. He graduated from the

Presidency College, Chennai Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

. His elder brothers were

Benegal Narsing Rau Sir Benegal Narsing Rau (26 February 1887 – 30 November 1953) was an Indian civil servant, jurist, diplomat and statesman known for his key role in drafting the Constitution of India. He was the Constitutional Advisor to Constituent Assembl ...

and

Benegal Rama Rau Sir Benegal Rama Rau CIE, ICS (1 July 1889 – 13 December 1969) was the fourth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 July 1949 to 14 January 1957. Early life and family He was born in a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin fa ...

. He joined labour movement and rose to vice president of INTUC. In 1929 he married Kitty Verstaendig, an Austrian. Early in his life, he came under influence of

theosophical society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

and its leader

Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human ...

. He was a correspondent of ''

'' and the ''

''. He is well known for his work ''Framing of India's Constitution'' (in six volumes, 1968). He was an ardent admirer of Gandhi but one of the first to criticize his strategy for national movement. His objectivity and deep analysis endeared him to his readers including Nehru, Gandhi and S. Radhakrishnan. His participation in International labour movement continued after independence as delegate to UN and ILO where he worked with Mrs. Vijaylakshmi Pandit and Babu Jagjeevan Ram. He remained member of Lok Sabha from 1952–57 and Rajya Sabha from 1957–1960. After that, he retired from public life and concentrated on research. He also edited papers of his brother B. N. Rau as ''India's Constitution in the Making'' (1960). He was one of contributors to Cyril Henry Phillips and Mary Doreen Wainwright edited ''The Partition of India:Policies & Perspectives 1935-47''. His last work was ''India's Freedom Fighters: Some Notable Figures'' published in 1972 as a tribute to his departed colleagues. His other works are: * ''What Labour has Gained from Reform in India'' (1923) * ''The Problem of India'' (1926), co-written with David Graham Pole * ''Select Constitutions of the World'' (1934) * ''Industrial Worker in India'' (1939) * ''India's Freedom Struggle: Some aspects'' (1968) * ''India Goes to the Polls'' (1968) * ''India's Role in UN'' (1968), co-written with Ǧaʻfar Riḍā'Bilġrāmī He led the Indian Delegation to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

Sessions in 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950. On 15 Dec 1975, he died in New Delhi and was survived by his wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, B. Shiva Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka People from Dakshina Kannada district Mangaloreans Journalists from Karnataka India MPs 1952–1957 Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka The Hindu journalists Politicians from Mangalore Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education 1891 births 1975 deaths Members of the Constituent Assembly of India 20th-century Indian journalists Lok Sabha members from Karnataka