Ramkrishna Suryabhan Gavai (30 October 1929 – 25 July 2015), popularly known as Dadasaheb Gavai, was an Indian politician, social activist, senior leader of the Ambedkarite movement, and founder of the

Republican Party of India (Gavai) The Republican Party of India (Gavai) is a political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about ...

. He was the President of Ambedkar's ideological party

Republican Party of India The Republican Party of India (RPI, often called the Republican Party or simply Republican) was a political party in India. It had its roots in the All-India Scheduled Castes Federation led by N. Sivaraj and B. R. Ambedkar. The Party was e ...

, through this party, he did many works in political and social fields. Gavai also worked with

Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

, a polymath. He was the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the three states of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, as well as he has served in both houses of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President o ...

, 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 ...

and 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 ...

. Gavai was a 30-year member (MLC) of the

Maharashtra Legislative Council The Maharashtra Legislative Council or Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra state in western India. Maharashtra Legislature Leaders Party Group Leader & Chief Whip and Whip Location Th ...

during which he served on the posts of the chairman, the deputy chairman, and the Opposition leader of the council.

Life and career

Gavai was born in 1929 at Daryapur,

Amravati Amravati (/Marathi phonology, əmᵊɾɑʋᵊt̪iː/) is a city in Maharashtra located in the Vidarbha region. It is the ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India & second largest city in the Vidarbha region in terms of population. It is the ...

. He was an

Ambedkarite Ambedkarism is called as the teaching, ideology or philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar, an Indian economist, barrister, social reformer, and the first of Minister of Law and Justice in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. Ambedkarism includes specia ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. An agriculturist by profession and an avid wrestler, Gavai was from the state 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 ...

. From 1964 to 1994, he was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council; during that time, he was Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council from 1968 to 1978, chairman from 1978 to 1984, and twice Leader of the Opposition of the Legislative Council from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1991."R.S. Gavai is new Kerala Governor"
''The Hindu'', 27 June 2008. In 1998, Gavai was elected to the

12th Lok Sabha The 12th Lok Sabha (23 March 1998 – 26 April 1999), was constituted after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that did not provide the ...

from

. He was member of Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra State April 2000 until April 2006. In June 2006 he became the

Governor of Bihar The governor of Bihar is the nominal head of the Indian state of Bihar. The governor is appointed by the president of India. Arif Mohammad Khan is the current governor of Bihar. Former President Zakir Husain and Ram Nath Kovind were two such ...

. He was the acting

Governor of Sikkim The governor of Sikkim is the head of the Indian state of Sikkim. The governor is appointed by the president of India and is the nominal head of the state's executive power. This is a list of the governors of Sikkim. There are 19 governors ...

from 13 July 2006 to 12 August 2006. On 26 June 2008, Gavai was instead appointed Governor of

, switching posts with Kerala Governor

R. L. Bhatia Raghunandan Lal Bhatia (3 July 1920 – 14 May 2021) was an Indian politician. He was the Governor of Kerala from 23 June 2004 to 10 July 2008, and was the Governor of Bihar from 10 July 2008 to 28 June 2009. He signed the Border Peace and Tran ...

. He was sworn in as Governor of Kerala on 10 July 2008. Gavai was a recipient of the Kusta Mitra Award, as well as the National Integration awards for peace and harmony. He was President of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Smarak Samiti,

Deeksha Bhoomi Deekshabhoomi, also written as Deeksha Bhoomi, is a sacred monument of Navayana Buddhism located in Nagpur city in the state of Maharashtra in India; where B. R. Ambedkar with approximately of his followers, mainly Dalits, embraced Buddhis ...

, Nagpur and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, Amravati. He died on 25 July 2015 at Nagpur. He is survived by wife Kamaltai and two sons

Bhushan Gavai Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai (born 24 November 1960), better known as B. R. Gavai, is an Indian jurist who is currently serving as the 52nd Chief Justice of India since 14 May 2025. He is a former judge of the Bombay High Court and he also current ...

, the current

Chief Justice of India The chief justice of India (CJI) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India and the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the President of India to appoint, as recommended by the outgoi ...

Rajendra Gavai Rajendra Gavai is the President of Republican Party of India (Gavai). Early life and education He is the son of a former Governor of Bihar and Kerala, R.S. Gavai, and is a medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English) ...

, a prominent political leader and daughter Kirti.

Overruling of AG's advice in Lavalin case

On 7 June 2009, Gavai gave the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

permission to prosecute CPI(M) Kerala State Secretary and former Kerala Electricity Minister

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian politician who has served as the List of chief ministers of Kerala, Chief Minister of Kerala since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), politburo ...

in the SNC-Lavalin case. This became controversial as he ignored the advice of the Advocate General not to allow the CBI to prosecute Vijayan. The CPI(M) termed Gavai's decision as unfortunate and politically motivated, whereas the opposition parties of the state, including

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 ...

, welcomed the governor's decision.

References

External links

Profile on Bihar Govt web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavai, Ramkrishnan Suryabhan 1929 births 2015 deaths Members of the Maharashtra Legislative Council Governors of Sikkim Governors of Bihar Governors of Kerala India MPs 1998–1999 Republican Party of India politicians Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra People from Amravati district Leaders of the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Chairs of the Maharashtra Legislative Council Indian Buddhists Marathi-language writers Buddhist activists 20th-century Buddhists 21st-century Buddhists Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism