Bhagat Singh Koshyari (born 17 June 1942) is an Indian politician who served as the 22nd

governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor; however, the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Minister ...

from 2019 to 2023. An

RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many ...

veteran, Koshyari served as National Vice-President of BJP and party's 3rd State president for Uttarakhand. He also served as 2nd

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand The chief minister of Uttarakhand is the Head of the government of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the ...

(formerly Uttaranchal) from 2001 to 2002 and thereafter, was the

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the

Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly The Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, also known as the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, is a unicameral governing and law making body of Uttarakhand, one of the 28 States and union territories of India, states of India. It is seated at Dehradun, the w ...

from 2002 to 2003. He also served as an MLC in

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council also known as Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. Uttar Pradesh is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, c ...

(when Uttarakhand was part of undivided Uttar Pradesh; later continued in Uttarakhand Legislative Council) and MLA in

. He later served as an MP in

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 ...

from 2008 to 2014 from Uttarakhand and then the MP in the

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 May ...

from Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar constituency, earning him the distinction of being elected in both houses of State Legislature and both houses of National Parliament respectively. As

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor; however, the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Minister ...

, Koshyari tainted his legacy when he ignored rules and swore in

Devendra Fadnavis Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis (born 22 July 1970) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 5 December 2024 with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as his deputies, and previously held this positi ...

as CM and Ajit Pawar as Deputy CM of Maharashtra without his party's consent. He was on the post for less than 80 hours, becoming Deputy CM with the shortest tenure in Devendra Fadnavis led government. Koshyari then played singular role in the dissolution of the

Maha Vikas Aghadi The Maha Vikas Aghadi (; abbreviated as MVA), is a state-level political alliance of Centrism, centre to Centre-left politics, centre-left political parties in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is one of the two major political alliances in M ...

government. This action received a rap from the SC and was termed as Illegal by the Supreme Court of India in their order dated 11 May 2023.

Personal and professional life

Bhagat Singh Koshyari was born on 17 June 1942 to Gopal Singh Koshyari and Motima Devi at Palanadhura Chetabgarh in

Bageshwar district Bageshwar is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India. The town of Bageshwar is the district headquarters. Prior to its establishment as a district in 1997 it was part of Almora district. Bageshwar district is in Kumaon, and is bounde ...

of then United Provinces in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(present

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

). Koshyari holds a master's degree in English and studied at Almora College, Almora (then affiliated with

Agra University Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, formerly Agra University, is an Autonomous University located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The university, formerly named as Agra University, was later named after Bhimrao Ambedkar. Affiliated colleges The U ...

, now S.S.J. Campus Almora of

Kumaon University Kumaun University is a state university headquartered in Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. In 2017, it hosted the first Kautik Student Film Festival. Campuses The academic wing of the University is spread over in two campuses (Dev Singh Bisht ...

). During this period, Koshyari was also a general secretary of the students' union of Almora College, Almora, between 1961 and 1962. He has also represented the Executive Council of Kumaon University, from 1979 to 1982, 1982 to 1985 and 1988 to 1991. He has had a successful career as a teacher and journalist. He had worked as a lecturer at Raja Inter College, Raja Ka Rampur,

Etah district Etah district () is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India, since 1854. Etah City is the district headquarters. Etah district is a part of Aligarh Division. About According to the 2011 census Etah district has a population of 1,761 ...

, Uttar Pradesh for few years. Koshyari is a founder and managing editor of ''Parvat Piyush'', a weekly published from

Pithoragarh Pithoragarh ( Kumaoni: ''Pithor'garh'') is a Himalayan town with a Municipal corporation in Pithoragarh district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the largest hill town in Uttarakhand. Etymology "The district is named after its hea ...

, Uttarakhand since 1975. He has also published two books, ''Uttaranchal Pradesh Kyun?'' and ''Uttaranchal Sangharsh Evam Samadhan''.

Political career

He joined the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

(RSS). He took part in the struggle against the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

and was imprisoned he was detained in

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ') is a municipal corporation and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

and

Fatehgarh Fatehgarh is a cantonment town in Farrukhabad district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Located on the south bank of the Ganges River, it is the administrative headquarters of Farrukhabad District. Fatehgarh derives its name from an o ...

Central Jail under the

Maintenance of Internal Security Act The Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) was a controversial law passed by the Indian parliament in 1971 giving the administration of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Indian law enforcement agencies very broad powers – indefinite pr ...

(MISA), from 3 July 1975 to 23 March 1977. In May 1997 he became a member of

, upper house of legislature of Uttar Pradesh. In 2000, he was appointed minister of Energy, Irrigation, Law, and Legislative Affairs of the newly created state of Uttaranchal. In 2001 he replaced Nityanand Swami as the chief minister of Uttarakhand. He has also served as the President of the BJP of his state. As a result of his party's defeat in the 2002 Assembly elections, he resigned in March 2002 as the chief minister. However, he was elected from Kapkot assembly constituency, and became the leader of the opposition of the

, till 2007. In the 2007 Assembly elections in Uttarakhand, he was elected again from Kapkot assembly constituency. However, despite the BJP's victory, Koshyari was deprived of the Chief Minister's post by his chief rival, Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri. Media reports have cited that the BJP's central leadership was biased for Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, despite Koshyari supported by RSS and majority of the elected MLAs. In November 2008 he was elected a member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand and remained a member till his election to the Lok Sabha in 2014. He has been appointed a national vice-president of BJP and also BJP chief in Uttarakhand. In the

2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

, he was elected to the

from Nainital Uddhamsingh Nagar, Lok Sabha constituency. On 5 September 2019, he was appointed as the Governor of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. Further, in August 2020 he was also appointed as the Governor of

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

(additional charge). He stepped down as the Governor of Maharashtra on 12 February 2023, a month after he met Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

and expressed his desire to resign from his post and retire, after many decades as a politician and social activist.

Social activities

He founded various schools in Uttarakhand (Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Pithoragarh, Vivekanand Vidya Mandir Inter College, Pithoragarh; and Saraswati Vihar Higher Secondary School,

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

). Even after years in politics, he remains steadfast in his dedication to education. He is currently serving as the Governor of Maharashtra and is the (ex-officio)

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

. Since 2019 (during his tenure as the Governor), there have been several crucial developments in the state's higher education atmosphere. These range from the introduction of the NEP 2020, and the setting up of many state cluster universities - Dr. Homi Bhabha State University & HSNC University, Mumbai of which he is the (ex-officio)

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Controversies

While Koshyari served as the governor, he sparked a row in a speech by saying, "There will be no money left, and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

will cease to exist as the

financial capital Financial capital (also simply known as capital or equity in finance, accounting and economics) is any Economic resources, economic resource measured in terms of money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their prod ...

of India, if

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Marwaris The Marwari or Marwadi (Devanagari: मारवाड़ी) are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group that originate from the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India. Their language, also called Marwari, comes under the umbrella of Rajasthani la ...

and

Gujaratis The Gujarati people, or Gujaratis, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who reside in or can trace their ancestry or heritage to a region of the Indian subcontinent primarily centered in the present-day western Indian state of Gujarat. They ...

are removed from these areas of

". This statement received large backlash from the opposition parties; even the ruling

BJP 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. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...

distanced itself from the situation. Koshyari later apologised for hurting the sentiments of

Marathi people The Marathi people (; Marathi language, Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They ...

. Shiv Sena Chief

Uddhav Thackeray Uddhav Bal Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: d̪ʱːəʋ ʈʰaːkɾeː born 27 July 1960) is an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022 and the Leader of the House, Maharashtra Legislative Ass ...

lashed out to the Governor for his insensitive and senile remarks terming it an insult to Marathi pride. In November 2022, while giving a speech to students of a university, attended by NCP leader

Sharad Pawar Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar (, pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �əɾəd̪ pəʋaːɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. Pawar served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for four terms and in the Union Council of Ministers ...

and Union Minister

Nitin Gadkari Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician who serves as the 40th Minister of Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India since 2014. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways, current ...

, Governor Koshyari called

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

an olden days idol, sparking a row of discontent over whole Maharashtra.

References

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External links