Banarsi Das Gupta (5 November 1917 – 29 August 2007) was an Indian politician who served as the 4th Chief Minister of Haryana state in India.

Life

Gupta was born in

Bhiwani Bhiwani is a city and a municipal council in Bhiwani district in the state of Haryana. Besides being a seat of spiritual learning, the city is at the centre of regional politics and hometown of three former Haryana chief ministers: Bansi Lal ...

and he studied at Pilani in

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 ...

. Gupta was a renowned freedom Fighter and he went to jail many times during the British rule. He established Parja Mandal in erstwhile

Jind Jind is one of the largest and oldest cities in Jind district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is the administrative headquarter of Jind district. Rani Talab is the main destination for tourists while Pandu Pindara and Ramrai are the ma ...

State in pre-independence period and launched agitation for establishment of a responsible Government in Jind State and was imprisoned several times. He undertook several padyatras, collected thousands of acres of land and distributed it among the landless during the Bhoodan Movement. He fought against traditional social abuses such as the

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

system,

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

, and

child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...

. He stood for widow remarriage rights and started the tradition of community marriages without dowry. He was founder of the All India Vaish Federation (Vais Maha Sammelan); Founder and Patron of the Maharaj Agrasen Medical Education & Scientific Research Society, Haryana, Trustee of Vaish Mahavidyalaya Trust which runs (i) Vaish Senior Secondary School and (ii) Vaish Model School, Founder and Trustee and Member of Haryana Prakritik Chikitsalaya, President of Managing Committee of (i) Vaish P.G. Boys' College, (ii) Adarsh Mahila Mahavidyalaya (also founder of this institute) and (iii) and Chief Patron of All India Agarwal Sammelan. He was president of All Indian Agarwal Sammelan for over 20 years and worked hard to unite the trading community. He was thrice elected to the Haryana Legislative Assembly and served once as its speaker. He was a minister for several years and served once as Deputy Chief Minister and twice as Chief Minister of Haryana. His terms as chief minister were from 1975 to 1977 as a member of Congress, and for a few months in 1990 as member of Janata Dal. He was elected to the

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 ...

in April 1996. During his tenure as Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) he was appreciated by parliament for best use of MPLAD (aid given through Members of Parliament for the benefit of the public).

Death and legacy

Gupta died on 29 August 2007 aged 90 in a hospital in Delhi after a fall. Banarsi's son, Ajay Gupta, announced in 2007 that a foundation was to be created that would be in the name of his father. The Banarsi Das Gupta Foundation would focus on improving computer education in rural areas. Ajay is married to Darshana Gupta who is known for arranging mass weddings. The foundation is a registered NGO in

Faridabad Faridabad () is the most populous List of cities in Haryana by population, city near NCT of Delhi in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of National Capital Region (India), Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite citie ...

with Ajay as the chair, and Darshana as the secretary.

References

External links

Official Biography from the Rajya Sabha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Banarsi Das 1917 births 2007 deaths People from Bhiwani Chief ministers of Haryana Speakers of the Haryana Legislative Assembly Deputy chief ministers of Haryana Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Chief ministers from Janata Dal Janata Party politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Haryana Janata Dal politicians Lok Dal politicians Haryana MLAs 1987–1991 Haryana MLAs 1972–1977 Haryana MLAs 1968–1972