Manohar Gaju Joshi (born 2 December 1937) is a prominent politician from the state of Maharashtra. He was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999 and Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the prominent leaders of the Shiv Sena. He is also second

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n to be elected to all of the four

legislatures A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known a ...

Background and family

Joshi was born on 2 December 1937 in the Marathi-speaking

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

family of Gajanan Krishna Joshi and Saraswati Gajanan in Nandavi of Raigad district in Maharashtra. He received his

Masters of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and LLB degrees from Mumbai University. He married Anagha Joshi on 14 May 1964, with whom he has a son, Unmesh, and two daughters, Asmita and Namrata. His granddaughter, Sharvari Wagh, made her debut as an actress with the 2021 film '' Bunty Aur Babli 2''.

Formation of Kohinoor

After MA in law he joined

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC; IAST: ), also known as the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), is the governing civic body of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra. It is India's richest municipal corporation. The ...

(BMC) as an officer, but later started the Kohinoor technical/vocational training institute with the idea of an institute for semi–skilled youths to offer training as electrician, plumber, TV/radio/scooter repairman, photography. Eventually, he started multiple branches of Kohinoor in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, etc., and later he made an entry in construction and another capital-oriented business. Manohar Joshi also founded the Kohinoor Business School & Kohinoor-IMI School of Hospitality Management in

Khandala Khandala is a hill station in the Western Ghats in the state of Maharashtra, India, about from Lonavala, 12 kilometres from Khopoli and from Karjat. Khandala is located at the top end of the Bhor Ghat, a major ''ghat'' (meaning valley i ...

, Maharashtra. Later on he took Chancellorship of Dnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth.

Political career

Early years

He began his career by being elected to the Legislative Council from the Shiv Sena. He served three terms from 1972 till 1989. He became the Mayor of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

during 1976 to 1977. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from a Shiv Sena ticket in 1990. Dnyaneshwar-agashe-manohar-joshi

Chief Minister

He became the first non-

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Chief Minister of Maharashtra when the Shiv Sena-

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 Mod ...

(BJP) coalition came to power in 1995. Technically, Sharad Pawar led the first non-Congress government in Maharashtra in 1978 as a member of Indian National Congress (Socialist).

Controversy and resignation

Joshi and

Bal Thackeray Bal Thackeray (; 23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012), also known as Balasaheb Thackeray, was an Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena, a right-wing pro- Marathi and Hindu nationalist party active mainly in the state of Maharashtra ...

were explicitly named for inciting the Shivsainiks to violence against Muslims during the 1992–1993 riots in an inquiry ordered by the

government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, the Srikrishna Commission Report. However, Joshi, then a part of the BJP-Sena government called the report "anti-Hindu, pro-Muslim and biased" and refused to adopt the commission's recommendations. As Chief Minister, he had permitted the release of a plot of land in Pune, reserved for a school, to a builder with ties to his son-in-law, Girish Vyas. A housing complex, named Sundew, was built on that land by Vyas in 1998. Sustained legal efforts by Vijay Kumbhar, an RTI activist from Pune, led to Joshi's resignation in January 1999. In March 2009, Bombay High Court passed a verdict calling the housing complex illegal. The Supreme Court of India upheld the verdict in 2011 and fined Joshi Rs 15,000. Following its order, the building is now being used for a school.

Lok Sabha and Speaker

He was promoted to the Lok Sabha when he won from Central Mumbai in the 1999 General Elections. He was the Speaker of the

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-p ...

from 2002 to 2004 during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) administration. He was elected for a six-year term to the Rajya Sabha on 20 March 2006 after being defeated in the previous Lok Sabha election from the Central Mumbai constituency.

References

External links

May 8, 2002 news article "Manohar Joshi to be next LS speaker"
–

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

Photos from site of Speaker of Lok Sabha
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Joshi Manohar Chief Ministers of Maharashtra Joshi, Manohar Joshi, Manohar Mayors of Mumbai Marathi politicians Speakers of the Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Shiv Sena politicians Members of the Maharashtra Legislative Council India MPs 1999–2004 Politicians from Mumbai Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Leaders of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly