Kushabhau Thakre (15 August 1922 – 28 December 2003) was an Indian politician belonging to the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

and a Member of Parliament.

Early life

Kushabhau Thakre was born at

Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the Dhar ...

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 ...

in a

Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) or historically and commonly known as Chandraseniya Prabhu or just Prabhu is a caste mainly found in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. Th ...

family to parents Dr. Sundarrao Shripatirao Thakre (father) and Smt. Shantabai Sundarrao Thakre (mother). He was educated at Dhar and

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

Career in RSS

In 1942 he was inducted as a Pracharak by 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 ( ...

then moved to the Ratlam Division (

Ratlam Ratlam is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administrative headquarters of Ratlam district, which was created in 1947 after the independe ...

Ujjain Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...

Mandsaur Mandsaur is a city and a municipality in Mandsaur district located on the border of Mewar and Malwa regions of Madhya Pradesh, a state in Central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandsaur District. The ancient Pashupatinath Tem ...

, Jhabua,

Chittaur Chittorgarh (; also Chitror or Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It wa ...

, Kota,

Bundi Bundi is a town in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan state in northwest India. Climate The climate is hot semi arid (BSh), not having enough rainfall to qualify as a tropical savanna climate (Aw). The climate is quite warm, and most of the ra ...

, Jhalawad, Banswada ( Raj.),

Dahod Dahod is a city on the banks of the Dudhimati River in Dahod District in the State of Gujarat, India. It is said that it has taken its name from Saint Dadhichi, who had an Ashram on the bank of Dudhumati river. This city is known for being t ...

(

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 ...

)). He moved up in the

Jana Sangh The Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh) was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by three founding members: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal ...

, the political wing of the RSS at the time.

Political career

Early politics (1956–1967)

In 1956 he became Secretary (Organisation)

of the

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh) was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by three founding members: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal ...

. He was appointed All India Secretary of

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

and also additional in charge of

in 1967.

Initial politics (1970–1979)

In 1974 he was made All India Secretary (Organisation). During the 1975–1977 Emergency, he was jailed for 19 months alongside other opposition political leaders. He was elected to

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 ...

in 1979 in a by-election from

Khandwa Khandwa is a city and a nagar nigam in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Khandwa district, formerly known as East Nimar District. Khandwa is a major railway junction; the Malwa line co ...

, Madhya Pradesh. He lost General Election from Khandwa in 1980. But he mostly stayed away from electoral politics.

Established politician (1980–2000)

When the

was formed in 1980, he was appointed a Secretary and in charge of Gujarat, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. He remained on this post until 1984. Throughout the years, he held offices as a national General Secretary, Vice-President or "in-charge" of a particular state.

Party president

On 14 April 1998 Thakre was elected as president of the

. In August 2000, he stepped down from this post.

Vision

A true visionary and an efficient team builder Thakre has major contribution in building the organisation in

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

Death

He died 28 December 2003 at the age of 81 at

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS New Delhi), is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Ministry of He ...

after prolonged illness as he was suffering from kidney cancer.

Legacy

Some of the places named after him are Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism and Mass Communication in

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

, Kushabhau Thakre Nursing College, Kushabhau Thakre Inter State Bus Terminal 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 ...

, Kushabhau Thakre Community Hall in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

,Kushabhau Thakre hall(Minto Hall, Bhopal) Kushabhau Thakre District hospital in

Shahdol Shahdol is a City in Shahdol district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Shahdol district, The total geographical area of the district is . Geography Shahdol is Located on . It has an average eleva ...

and Kushabhau Thakre Road in

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

References

External links

BJP Profile – Late Shri. Kushabhau Thakre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakre, Kushabhau 1922 births 2003 deaths Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Madhya Pradesh People from Gwalior People from Dhar Presidents of Bharatiya Janata Party Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians Lok Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh People from Khandwa district India MPs 1980–1984