Bhagwat Dayal Sharma (26 January 1918 – 22 February 1993), popularly known as Panditji, was the first Chief Minister of the Indian state of

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

and later

Governor of Odisha The Governor of Odisha is the head of the Indian state of Odisha. The Governor (India), governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at central level. They exist in the States of India, state ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

from 30 April 1980 to 14 May 1984. He is one of the greatest leaders of Haryana and his legacy is celebrated even today.

Personal life

He was born in Beri, a town in the

Jhajjar district Jhajjar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in northern India. Carved out of Rohtak district on 15 July 1997 and with its headquarters in Jhajjar, it lies from Delhi and had developed into an important industrial center. Oth ...

of Haryana on 26January 1918.

Bansi Lal Bansi Lal Legha (26 August 1927 – 28 March 2006), also known as Chaudhary Bansi Lal, was an Indian politician and independence activist, who served as the Minister of Defence of India and three-time Chief Minister of Haryana. He is also kno ...

, Bhajan Lal and many other noted politicians learned politics under his guidance. He married Savitri Devi and they had six children; three sons and three daughters. He did his schooling from Birla College (No
Birla School, Pilani
, Pilani and his higher studies from Banaras Hindu University, Banaras. His eldest son Sh. Rajesh Sharma became Sports Minister of Haryana and Deputy Chairman of the State's Planning Board. After his wife Savitri's death, Panditji built "Savitri Nikunj", in her memory, an exotic garden with indigenous and rare plants and trees at Raj Bhawan in

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), 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 ...

Independence movement and political career

* Participated in the freedom struggle from 1941 to 1947 * Sentenced to jail for 1 year in 1941 * Sentenced to jail for 3.5 years in 1942 * Member of Indian labourers delegation to ILO (Geneva) in 1957 and 1958 *

All-India Trade Union Congress The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is the oldest trade union federation in India. It is associated with the Communist Party of India. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, AITUC had a membership of 14.2 mil ...

(Punjab HP, J & K) Secretary and President in 1959-61 * Member of Punjab Legislative Assembly and Minister of State for Labour and Cooperatives from 1962 to 1966 Sharma became Chief Minister of Haryana on 1November 1966 then resigned to be replaced by Rao Birender Singh on 24March 1967. *

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

member from 1968 to 1974 * All India congress Working Committee member from 1970 to 1972 Appointed Governor of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

in 1977, during his time in the state, he became patron of many social and cultural institutions. To develop tourism in Odisha, he suggested that the summer

Raj Bhavan Raj Bhavan () is the common name of the official residences of the governors of the states of India and may refer to: List of Raj Bhavan See also * Raj Niwas *Rashtrapati Ashiana *Rashtrapati Bhavan *Rashtrapati Nilayam Rashtrapati Nilaya ...

Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...

should be converted to a high class hotel for international tourists with facilities for golf, swimming and tennis as well as a large hall for holding conferences. The Indian Tourist Development Corporation (ITDC) was subsequently asked to take up the venture. Sharma was also actively involved in the administrative committee of the Hindu

Jagannath temple The Jagannath Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Jagannath, a form of Vishnu in Hinduism. It is located in Puri in the state of Odisha, situated on the eastern coast of India. As per temple records, King Indradyumna of Avanti (reg ...

in Puri. He decided to side with the syndicate after the expulsion of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

from the Congress. He subsequently transferred to

since the Odisha climate did not suit his health. During his career, Panditji travelled to Switzerland, the UK, the USSR, Germany, USA, and a number of other European countries.

Death

He died on 22 February 1993 because of gradual declining health and old age. Huge numbers of people from all over world attended his funeral. His

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

took place at Beri (the village, he was born at),

Jhajjar Jhajjar is a town in Jhajjar district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is a part of Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) and situated on the road connecting Rewari to Rohtak (NH-352), Loharu to Meerut (NH334B), Charkhi Dadri to Delhi and Gu ...

, Haryana. A tomb place has been built at the site of his cremation in Beri.

Honors

Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences (PBDSUHS) is a state university located at Rohtak, Haryana, India. About It was established in 2008 by ''Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences Rohtak Act, 2008'' of ...

Rohtak Rohtak () is a city and the administrative headquarters of the Rohtak district in the Indian state of Haryana. It lies north-west of New Delhi and south of the state capital Chandigarh on NH 9 (old NH 10). Rohtak forms a part of the Nationa ...

named after him incorporates

Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences or PGIMS Rohtak is a government medical institution in the city of Rohtak, Haryana, India. The institute offers various under graduate and post graduate courses in major s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Shri Bhagvat Dayal 1918 births 1992 deaths People from Sonipat Chief ministers of Haryana Governors of Odisha Governors of Madhya Pradesh Place of birth missing People from Jhajjar district Punjab, India MLAs 1962–1967 Haryana MLAs 1966–1967 Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Indian National Congress politicians from Haryana Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians Presidents of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee Presidents of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee