Banarsi Das Gupta (5 November 1917 – 29 August 2007) was an Indian politician who served as the 4th Chief Minister of Haryana state in India.

Life

Gupta was born in Bhiwani and he studied at

Pilani Pilani is a small city situated in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, India. Administratively, it forms a part of Jhunjhunu district. The place became popular since the establishment of BITS Pilani.The city is also the home to some of the old ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

. Gupta was a renowned freedom Fighter and he went to jail many times during the British rule. He established Parja Mandal in erstwhile

Jind Jind is one of the largest and oldest city in Jind district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is administrative headquarter of Jind district. Rani Talab is the main destination for tourists while Pandu-Pindara and Ramrai are the main reli ...

State in pre-independence period and launched agitation for establishment of a responsible Government in Jind State and was imprisoned several times. He undertook several padyatras, collected thousands of acres of land and distributed it among the landless during the

Bhoodan The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally The Bhoodan movement attempted ...

Movement. He fought against traditional social abuses such as the

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

system,

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

, and

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a mal ...

. He stood for widow remarriage rights and started the tradition of community marriages without dowry. He was founder of the All India Vaish Federation (Vais Maha Sammelan); Founder and Patron of the Maharaj Agrasen Medical Education & Scientific Research Society, Haryana, Trustee of Vaish Mahavidyalaya Trust which runs (i) Vaish Senior Secondary School and (ii) Vaish Model School, Founder and Trustee and Member of Haryana Prakritik Chikitsalaya, President of Managing Committee of (i) Vaish P.G. Boy's College, (ii) Adarsh Mahila Mahavidyalaya (also founder of this institute) and (iii) and Chief Patron of All India Agarwal Sammelan. He was president of All Indian Agarwal Sammelan for over 20 years and worked hard to unite the trading community. He was thrice elected to the Haryana Legislative Assembly and served once as its speaker. He was a minister for several years and served once as Deputy Chief Minister and twice as Chief Minister of Haryana. His terms as chief minister were from 1975 to 1977 as a member of Congress, and for a few months in 1990 as member of Janata Dal. He was elected to 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 ...

in April 1996. During his tenure as Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) he was appreciated by parliament for best use of MPLAD (aid given through Members of Parliament for the benefit of the public).

Death and legacy

Gupta died on 29 August 2007 aged 90 in a hospital in Delhi after a fall. Banarsi's son, Ajay Gupta, announced in 2007 that a foundation was to be created that would be in the name of his father. The Banarsi Das Gupta Foundation would focus on improving computer education in rural areas. Ajay is married to Darshana Gupta who is known for arranging mass weddings. The foundation is a registered NGO in

Faridabad Faridabad is the most populous city in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite cities around Delhi and is located 284 kilometres south of the state capital Chandigarh. The ri ...

with Ajay as the chair, and Darshana as the secretary.

References

External links

Official Biography from the Rajya Sabha
*http://bdgf.in/ 1917 births 2007 deaths People from Bhiwani Chief Ministers of Haryana Speakers of the Haryana Legislative Assembly Deputy chief ministers of Haryana Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Chief ministers from Janata Dal Janata Party politicians Indian National Congress politicians {{Haryana-INC-politician-stub