Vasant Kumar Pandit (1921-1987) was an Indian politician belonging to the

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...

party from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. Later he was part of Janata Party and

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. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

. He was born on 5 June 1921 to Ramkrishna Pandit. He died on 25 September 1987. Famous classical singer

Pandit Jasraj Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930 – 17 August 2020) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the '' Mewati gharana'' (musical apprenticeship lineage). His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame ...

was his cousin. He was a professor of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

at Wilson College in

and an

Astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

. While he was from Maharashtra and represented

Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...

Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad The Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad or Maharashtra Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra state in western India. Location The seat of the Vidhan Parishad is situated at the Nariman Point area of South ...

as a member, he contested 6th & 7th Lok Sabha elections from

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

in BJP strongholds in 1970's. He joined Jaya Prakash Narayan in his Sampoorna Kranti Movement. A scholarly person, he was associated with

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) is located in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It was founded on 6 July 1917 and named after Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837–1925), long regarded as the founder of Indology (Orientalism) in In ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, Bharatiya Sangeet Samsad, Indo-Israel League for 10 years, and

Prince of Wales Museum Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, (CSMVS) originally named Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, is a museum in Mumbai (Bombay) which documents the history of India from prehistoric to modern times. It was founded during Briti ...

for 3 years, among his many social activities. He took the oath of membership of Lok Sabha in

language. As for his association with astrology, BJP leader

L. K. Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. Advani is one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a longtime memb ...

has recounted how Pandit accurately predicted a period in the wilderness for his party in 1975-76 just when things were actually looking promising for them. Dr. Pandit, a renowned professional astrologer said, 'At least my reading of astrology says we are heading for a two-year exile!'. He was one of the

's executive members. "Dr Pandit was a member of the Maharashtra legislative council for 18 years and a member of the Lok Sabha from 1977 to 1984 from Madhya Pradesh"

Organizational Positions

Secretary,

Bharatiya Jan Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

; Bombay Unit 1953–1966;
President,

, Bombay Unit, 1957–1966,
President, Maharashtra State Jan Sangh, 1969–1977;

Elected Positions

He was elected to Lok Sabha from Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh in 1977 on Janata Party's ticket. He won re-election from there in 1980. He joined Bharatiya Janata Party in April 1980 when Janata party split.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandit, Vasant Kumar Marathi politicians 1921 births 1987 deaths Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians Janata Party politicians Members of the Maharashtra Legislative Council India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1980–1984 People from Mumbai