Balwantrai Mehta
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Balwantrai Mehta (February 19, 1899 - September 19, 1965) was the second Chief Minister of Gujarat, India.
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[edit] Pre-independence
He was born in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. There he rose in grassroots politics. Coming in contact with likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Lala Lajpat Rai, he joined Indian independence movement. During this struggle, the British government many times imprisoned him.
[edit] Post-independene
After the independence he was twice elected as a Member of Parliament in India's Lok Sabha. As the Chairman of Estimate committee he produced the report on local self-governance and was hailed as the Father of Panchayat Raj.
[edit] Gujarat
He succeeded Dr. Jivraj Mehta as the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 1963. In the 1965 India-Pakistan war, he went for inspection of the Gujarat border along with his wife Shrimati Sarojben. Their plane was shot down by a Pakistani aircraft in the Kutch area, claiming their lives. He thus became probably the only politician to lose life on the battlefront.
