Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, () (Also knows as Sarvajanik Sabha ), was a sociopolitical organisation in

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

which started with the aim of working as a mediating body between the government and people of India and to popularise the peasants' legal rights. It started as an elected body of 95 members elected by 6000 persons on April 2, 1870. The organisation was a precursor to 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 ...

which started with its first session from Maharashtra itself. In 1875 the Sabha sent a petition to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

demanding India's direct representation in the British Parliament. The Pune Sarvajanik Sabha provided many of the prominent leaders of national stature to the Indian freedom struggle including

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokamānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

. It was formed in 1867 by Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi. Other source say it was founded by Mahadev Govind Ranade, who was a prominent lawyer and later judge in

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...

. Due to his association with Sarvajanik Sabha, Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi became famous as Sarvajanik ''Kaka''. Sarvajanik Sabha appealed to British that UK's government should recognise Indians as their country's citizens. The ruler of the Aundh State, Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi was the first President of the organisation. Many eminent personalities such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Hari Deshmukh, ''Maharshi'' Annasaheb Patwardhan, etc. served as the Presidents of the organisation. Other prominent members included Krishnaji Lakshman Nulkar,

Gopal Krishna Gokhale Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( International Phonetic Alphabet, �ɡoːpaːl ˈkrɪʂɳə ˈɡoːkʰleː9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was an Indian political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement, and political me ...

and Vaman Shivram Apte. In 2016, Meera Pavagi was elected as the first woman President of the organisation.

Bibliography

*The Pune Sarvajanik Sabha: the early phase, 1870-1880 - S. R. Mehrotra * *

References

Indian independence movement in Maharashtra Organizations established in 1870 Organisations based in Pune {{India-org-stub

See also

Bibliography

References