Balwantrai Gopalji Mehta ( – ) was an Indian politician who served as the second

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He participated in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. After the independence of India, he was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

, the lower house of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

from Gohilwad,

as a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. He is considered as the 'Architect of '' Panchayati Raj'' ' due to his contributions towards democratic decentralisation.

Early life

Balwantrai Gopalji Mehta was born on 19 February 1900 in

Bhavnagar State Bhavnagar State was a princely state with 13 Gun Salutes during the British Raj. It was part of Kathiawar Agency in Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra. The State of Bhavnagar covered an area of 2,961 sq. miles and had a population of 618,429 i ...

in a middle-class family. He studied up to B.A class, but refused to take the degree from the foreign government.

Political career

He joined the national movement of non-co-operation in 1920. He founded Bhavanagar Praja Mandal in 1921 for carrying on the freedom movement in that state. He participated in the Civil Disobedience movement from 1930 to 1932. He also participated in Bardoli Satyagraha. He was sentenced for three years imprisonment in Quit India Movement of 1942. He spent total seven years in prison during British colony. On

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

's suggestion, he accepted membership of the Congress Working Committee. When

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

became president of All India Congress Committee, he was elected its general secretary. He was twice elected, in

1952 Indian general Election Year 195 (Roman numerals, CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The den ...

and was again elected in

1957 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 24 February and 14 March 1957, the second elections to the Lok Sabha after independence. Elections to several state legislatures were held simultaneously. Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, ...

to the

2nd Lok Sabha The Second Lok Sabha (5 April 1957 – 31 March 1962) was elected after the 1957 Indian general election. The 2nd Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years till 1962. 15 sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 2nd Lok Sabha after th ...

from Gohilwad (Bhavnagar) Constituency. He was the Chairman of Estimate committee of Parliament. He chaired the

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

set up by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in January 1957 to examine the working of the Community Development Programme and the National Extension Service and to suggest measures for their better working. The committee submitted its report in November 1957 and recommended the establishment of the scheme of 'democratic decentralisation' which finally came to be known as ''Panchayati Raj''. He also remained President of Servants of the People Society (Lok Sevak Mandal), a social service organisation founded by

Lala Lajpat Rai Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 — 17 November 1928) was an Indian revolutionary, politician, and author, popularly known as ''Punjab Kesari (Lion of Punjab).'' He was one of the three members of the Lal Bal Pal trio. He died of severe tra ...

, in 1921. He succeeded Jivraj Narayan Mehta as the

Chief Minister of Gujarat The chief minister of Gujarat is the head of government, chief executive of the government of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose Cabinet (government), council of ministers are Cabinet collective respons ...

on 25 February 1963.

Death

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, on 19 September 1965, then serving chief minister Mehta flew in a

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and Military aircraft, military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacture ...

commuter aircraft from Tata Chemicals, Mithapur to the Kutch border between India and Pakistan. The plane was piloted by Jahangir Engineer, a former

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

pilot. It was shot down by

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

pilot Qais Hussain, who assumed it to be a reconnaissance mission. Mehta died in the crash along with his wife, three members of his staff, a journalist and two crew members.

Aftermath

In August 2011 Qais Hussain wrote to Jahangir Engineer's daughter apologizing for his mistake, stating that a "civilian plane was mistaken for a reconnaissance aircraft by Pakistani controllers, and he was ordered to shoot it down".

Commemoration

The Department of Post, Government of India has issued a special postage stamp of face value INR 3.00 to commemorate his 100th birth anniversary on 17 February 2000.

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Balwantrai Year of birth uncertain 1965 deaths People from Bhavnagar Indian independence activists from Gujarat Chief ministers of Gujarat People of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 People murdered in Gujarat Victims of aircraft shootdowns Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in India Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1965 Members of the Constituent Assembly of India India MPs 1957–1962 Lok Sabha members from Gujarat Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat Politicians assassinated in 1965 Indian politicians assassinated in the 20th century Assassinated subnational legislators