Nath Bapu Pai (25 September 1922 – 18 January 1971) was an

Indian freedom fighter The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

Barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

being a prominent leader of

Praja Socialist Party The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the Kisan Mazdoo ...

. He was married to Crystle, a fellow socialist from Austria, and he spoke French and German fluently. He was known for excellent oratory in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

and English. Of his debates in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

, veteran journalist D. B. Karnik, wrote ''“Once he had the floor to himself, he would not miss a single opportunity to put his opponents, particularly the ruling party, in the wrong box. Then quotations would flow, in English, Marathi and Sanskrit. There would be stories and anecdotes. There would be legal arguments and a flourish of emotional outbursts. Above all there would be the beauty of the language coming out with such superb power of expression”''.

Achievements

* He fought elections, unsuccessfully, for Mumbai State's assembly in 1952 from Belgaum region. * He was elected Member of Parliament for 3 consecutive terms from

Rajapur (Lok Sabha constituency) Rajapur was a Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency of Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion ...

1957 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 24 February and 9 June 1957, the second elections to the Lok Sabha after independence. They were held five years after the 1951–52 elections in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution o ...

1962 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 19 and 25 February 1962 to elect members of the 3rd Lok Sabha. Unlike the previous two elections, each constituency elected a single member. Jawaharlal Nehru won another landslide victory in his th ...

1967 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 17 and 21 February 1967 to elect 520 of the 523 members of the 4th Lok Sabha, an increase of 15 from the previous session of Lok Sabha. Elections to State Assemblies were also held simultaneously, th ...

. * He died in January 1971, just before that year's general election. His socialist friend

Madhu Dandavate Madhu Dandavate (21 January 1924 – 12 November 2005) was an Indian physicist and socialist politician, who served as Minister of Railways in the Morarji Desai ministry, and as Minister of Finance in the V P Singh ministry. Born in Ahmednagar ...

succeeded him as Lok Sabha member from the Rajapur seat. * The

Konkan Railway The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The first passenger train ran on Konkan railway tracks on 20 March 1993, between Udupi and ...

was his brainchild. Demands for an Indian West Coast railway line were continuously raised by Nath Pai as he actively voiced the concerns of the region. * In 1954, Barrister Nath Pai was elected the first non-European president of

International Union of Socialist Youth The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is an international organization, founded in 1907, whose activities include publications, support of member organizations and the organization of meetings. It was formed as the youth wing of the S ...

, headquartered at

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

References

Marathi politicians Maharashtra politicians 1922 births India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 Indian barristers Praja Socialist Party politicians 1971 deaths People from Sindhudurg district 20th-century Indian lawyers {{Maharashtra-politician-stub