Kushabhau Thakre

Kushabhau Thakre (15 August 1922 – 28 December 2003) was an Indian politician belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party and Member of parliament.

Kushabhau Thakre
Portrait of Kushabhau Thakre
Personal details
Born15 August 1922
Dhar, Central India Agency, British India
Died28 December 2003 (aged 81)
New Delhi, India
NationalityIndian
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
ProfessionLawyer, politician

Early life

Kushabhau Thakre was born at Dhar, Madhya Pradesh in a Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu family[1][2][3] to parents Dr. Sundarrao Shripatirao Thakre (father) and Smt. Shantabai Sundarrao Thakre (mother). He was educated at Dhar and Gwalior.

Career in RSS

In 1942 he was inducted as a Pracharak by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh then moved to the Ratlam Division (Ratlam, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Jhabua, Chittaur, Kota, Bundi, Jhalawad, Banswada (Raj.), Dahod (Gujarat)). He moved up in the Jana Sangh, the political wing of the RSS at the time, and then in the Janata Party when the parties merged.[2]

Political career

Early politics (1956-1967)

In 1956 he became Secretary (Organisation) Madhya Pradesh of Bharatiya Jana Sangh. He was appointed All India Secretary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Orissa and also additional in charge of Gujarat 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 in 1979 in a by-election from Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. He lost General Election from Khandwa in 1980. But he mostly stayed away from electoral politics.

Established politician (1980-2000)

When the Bharatiya Janata Party was formed in 1980, he was appointed as a Secretary and in charge of Gujarat, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. 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 Bharatiya Janata Party. In August 2000, he stepped down from this post.[4]

Vision

A true visionary and an efficient team builder Thakre has major contribution in building the organisation in Chhattisgarh.[5]

Death

He died 28 December 2003 at the age of 81 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi after prolonged illness as he was suffering from kidney cancer.[6]

Legacy

Some of the places named after him are Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism and Mass Communication in Raipur,[7] Kushabhau Thakre Nursing College, Kushabhau Thakre Inter State Bus Terminal in Bhopal, Kushabhau Thakre Community Hall in Ahmedabad, Kushabhau Thakre District hospital in Shahdol and Kushabhau Thakre Road in Indore.

References
  1. Christophe Jaffrelot (16 October 1998). Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics, 1925 to the 1990s. Columbia University Press. pp. 133, 147, 148. ISBN 9780231103350. (pg 147)Members of the Maharashtrian high castes were particularly numerous, whether Brahmins or - like Thakre[Kushabhau, pg 133] - CKPs.(pg 148) In Indore, the Maharashtrian upper castes were particularly over-represented within the RSS and the Jana Sangh. In the municipal councils, from 1950-65, the Maharashtrian Brahmins and CKP accounted for two-thirds or three-fourths of the Hindu Nationalist representation.
  2. Rob Jenkins (2004). Regional Reflections: Comparing Politics Across India's States. Oxford University Press. p. 164. In fact, in the late 1990s and in 2000 the party apparatus was still controlled by upper-caste leaders — either from the faction led by former Chief Minister Sunderlal Patwa (a Jain) and BJP National President Kushabhau Thakre (a Kayasth[prabhu]),or by its opponents , led by Lami Narayan Pandey and former chief minister Kailash Joshi, both Brahmins
  3. Christophe Jaffrelot. Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, 1993 Les nationalistes hindous: idéologie, implantation et mobilisation dès années 1920 aux années 1990. p. 150). Le cas du Madhya Pradesh En Inde centrale, une des premières zones de force du nationalisme hindou, cette charge fut progressivement confiée à Kushabhau Thakre. Natif de Dhar et de caste kayasth[prabhu] (rough translation of last part: the charge was gradually entrusted to Kushabhau Thakre. Native of Dhar and of caste CKP
  4. List of presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party
  5. "Welcome to Kushabhau Thakre Patrakarita Avam Jansanchar Vishwavidyalaya". www.ktujm.ac.in. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  6. "Kushabhau Thakre: a brave political soldier". Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  7. "Kushabhau Thakre Patrakarita Avam Jansanchar Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur". Collegedunia. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
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