Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna

Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna (April 25, 1919 – March 17, 1989) was a Congress Party leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh; he later joined Bharatiya Lok Dal and worked with Charan Singh.

Personal

He was the sixth child of his parents, born on 25 April 1919 in a small village called Bughani in the district of Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand. His father Ravati Nandan Bahuguna was a village patwari and his mother Dipa a housewife. The Bahuguna family hails from Bughani, Pauri Garhwal but settled in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.

Honored with “Proud Past Alumni" of Allahabad University.^[1][2][3]

Little is known about his first marriage. His first wife always lived in his native village Bughani as a simple village woman.

His 2nd wife lived with him in Allahabad and was mother of their 3 children:

• Their first son Vijay Bahuguna As of 2013 March 15 (15-03-2013) the present Chief Minister of Uttrakhand. He was a former judge of Allahabad and Bombay High Court
• Second son Shekhar Bahuguna.
• Daughter Rita Bahuguna Joshi As of 2013 March 15 (15-03-2013) UP Congress Chief.

Politics

Pre independence

Students Parliament

He studied in D.A.V. School and Messmore Inter College of Pauri Town. He passed 10th from Pauri and went to Allahabad for higher studies. In 1937, he moved to Allahabad for further studies and was admitted into the Government Intermediate College. There he founded the first "Students Parliament" in the college and was elected its "Prime Minister".

Non-Cooperation Movement

In 1939-40 he was enrolled in B.Sc. at Allahabad University. The university, besides being known as the Oxford of the east, was also a pivot of the freedom movement. Mahatma Gandhi by 1940 had already beckoned the youth to join the Non-Cooperation Movement. In 1941 when the president of the Allahabad University Union was declared an absconder, Bahuguna was elected the dictents movement in Uttar Pradesh. His plunge into the freedom movement was deep. The British declared him a rebel and Bahuguna had to go underground. Subsequently a reward of Rs. 5000/- was offered by the British to anyone who aided in his arrest dead or alive.

In jail

An active participant in the freedom movement, Bahuguna was jailed several times in the prisons of Allahabad and Sultanpur. Finally in 1942 as a part of Quit India movement he was again jailed until 1946. In 1946 he completed his graduation in Arts.

Post independence

Trade unions

India finally attained independence on 15 August 1947. Post independence period saw Bahuguna playing a major role in Trade Unions. He was instrumental in organizing labour unions at Allahabad in the Power House, Government Press, Central Ordnance Depot, Symonds, and Dey's Medical. Unrelentingly he espoused their cause and never compromised with their cause or their welfare. A contemporary of Bahuguna, a union labour leader at Allahabad, Janab Abdul Hamid, said once, "Bahuguna Ji always fought for the cause of the labour and he was the only labour leader on whom we hed absolute faith in those days". In 1953 he became a member of the Indian National Trade Union Congress.

State cabinet

In 1952 Bahuguna entered into the main stream of Indian politics. He was elected M.L.A. from Karchana and Chail constituency in Allahabad. In the house he impressed all with his deep understanding of the legislative process. The proceedings in the house reflect his deep concern for the proletariat, the downtrodden and the minorities. He was again elected to the U.P Legislative Assembly. This time from Sirathu in 1957. The same year Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, then Chief Minister U.P impressed with Bahuguna's political acumen appointed to him Parliamentary Secretary and entrusted to him the portfolio of labour and industry. In 1960 he was elevated as a Deputy Minister with the same portfolio. In 1967 he was made the Finance Minister with the U.P Government.

Union Cabinet

In 1971, he was made State Minister for Communication in the Union Cabinet.

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

In 1973, he was appointed as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India. However, his tenure was short and he was forced to resign by Prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

Parting of ways with the Congress

In early 1977, when Indira Gandhi lifted the state emergency and called for new elections to the Lok Sabha, Bahuguna left the Congress (I) and formed a new group called Congress for Democracy (CFD) with Jagjivan Ram and Nandini Satpathy. The CFD joined the Janata alliance to contest the elections. Bahuguna was elected to the Parliament from Lucknow constituency on the Janata Alliance ticket.. He was subsequently appointed as Cabinet Minister in the Department of Petroleum and Chemicals by the Prime Minister Morarji Desai. His brief stint as Petroleum Minister saw various projects which enabled the country to achieve self-sufficiency in Petroleum products.

In 1979, he served as the Union Finance Minister. Bahuguna got dischanted with the Janata government very quickly and when Indira Gandhi took pains in convincing him that her Congress party still stood by its ideals of socialism, and secularism, he joined the Congress party again.^{[citation needed]}

In 1980, he won the Parliamentary elections from Garhwal as a Congress(I) party candidate. But, he soon left the party and resigned his seat subsequently. He recontested the resulting by-poll in 1982 and emerged victorious.

Between 1982 and 84, he revived his Democratic Socialist Party. Later, he joined the Bharatiya Lok Dal and became its Vice-President and subsequently its President.

His last endeavor was to forge a common minimum programme amongst the like minded opposition parties. But they did not reciprocate.

1984 Lok Sabha Elections

He contested against the congress candidate, Amitabh Bachchan, in 1984 Parliamentary elections from Allahabad constituency. Bachhan won the election by approximately 1,87,000 votes. Later his wife Kamla Bahuguna also stood up for by-elections from Allahabad.

Death

Bahuguna fell ill in 1988 and flew to the United States for coronary bypass surgery. The surgery was unsuccessful and he died 17 March 1989 in a Cleveland Hospital.

Other

Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University is Uttarakhand's largest university, in Garhwal, is named after him.

References

External links

• Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh
• "UTTAR PRADESH LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY". Retrieved 16 March 2013. 
• Biography
• Bahugana's daughter runs in Amethi
• MINISTERS