Kushabhau Thakre (15 August 1922 – 28 December 2003) was an Indian politician belonging to the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

and a Member of parliament.

Early life

Kushabhau Thakre was born at

Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the Dhar ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

in a

Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) is a caste group mainly found in Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris and according to the historian, ...

family to parents Dr. Sundarrao Shripatirao Thakre (father) and Smt. Shantabai Sundarrao Thakre (mother). He was educated at Dhar and

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

Career in RSS

In 1942 he was inducted as a

Pracharak The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family") ...

by the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

then moved to the Ratlam Division (

Ratlam Ratlam, known historically as Ratnapuri (lit. ''gem city''), is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh states and territories of India, state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administ ...

Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...

Mandsaur Mandsaur is a city and a municipality in Mandsaur district located on Border of Mewar and Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers ...

Jhabua Jhabua is a town and a municipality in Jhabua district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Jhabua District. Recently the district has got international recognition because of its endemic hen species ...

Chittaur Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghold ...

, Kota,

Bundi Bundi is a city in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan state in northwest India and capital of the former princely state of Rajputana agency. District of Bundi is named after the former princely state. Demographics According to the 2011 Indian cens ...

, Jhalawad,

Banswada Banswada is a Town and Revenue division in Kamareddy district of the Indian state of Telangana. Geography Banswada is located at . It has an average elevation of 371 meters (1220 feet). Politics Earlier, Banswada was a major Grama Panc ...

( Raj.),

Dahod Dahod is a city on the banks of the Dudhimati River in Dahod District in the State of Gujarat, India. It is said that it has taken its name from Saint Dadhichi, who had an Ashram on the bank of Dudhumati river. The city serves as District He ...

(

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

)). He moved up in the

Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) ( ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...

, the political wing of the RSS at the time.

Political career

Early politics (1956–1967)

In 1956 he became Secretary (Organisation)

of the

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

. He was appointed All India Secretary of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

and also additional in charge of

in 1967.

Initial politics (1970–1979)

In 1974 he was made All India Secretary (Organisation). During the 1975–1977 Emergency, he was jailed for 19 months alongside other opposition political leaders. He was elected to

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

in 1979 in a by-election from

Khandwa Khandwa is a city and a nagar nigam in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Khandwa district, formerly known as East Nimar District. Khandwa is a major railway junction; the Malwa line conne ...

, Madhya Pradesh. He lost General Election from Khandwa in 1980. But he mostly stayed away from electoral politics.

Established politician (1980–2000)

When the

was formed in 1980, he was appointed a Secretary and in charge of Gujarat, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. He remained on this post until 1984. Throughout the years, he held offices as a national General Secretary, Vice-President or "in-charge" of a particular state.

Party president

On 14 April 1998 Thakre was elected as president of the

. In August 2000, he stepped down from this post.

Vision

A true visionary and an efficient team builder Thakre has major contribution in building the organisation in

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

Death

He died 28 December 2003 at the age of 81 at

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, also known as AIIMS Delhi, is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Minis ...

after prolonged illness as he was suffering from kidney cancer.

Legacy

Some of the places named after him are Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism and Mass Communication in

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

, Kushabhau Thakre Nursing College,

Kushabhau Thakre Inter State Bus Terminal The Kushabhau Thakre Inter-state bus terminus also known as ''Bhopal ISBT'' or '' ISBT'', located in Bhopal is the newest Inter State Bus Terminals In India, an Inter State Bus Terminal or Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) is a bus terminus that ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

, Kushabhau Thakre Community Hall in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

, Kushabhau Thakre District hospital in

Shahdol Shahdol is a city in Shahdol district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Shahdol district, The total geographical area of the district is . Demographics India census A census is the procedure o ...

and Kushabhau Thakre Road in

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

References

External links

BJP Profile – Late Shri. Kushabhau Thakre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakre, Kushabhau 1922 births 2003 deaths Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Madhya Pradesh People from Gwalior People from Dhar Presidents of Bharatiya Janata Party Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians Lok Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh People from Khandwa district India MPs 1980–1984