Bhakt Darshan (1912–1991) served

Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom * Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India *Gar ...

as Member of Parliament in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

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 ...

(India) as well as being a Deputy Minister and Minister of State in the governments of

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

and

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

. He was also a writer, being founder-editor of a Hindi weekly and writing for other publications.

Member of Parliament

In 1952, Darshan was elected the

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 ...

from

Garhwal (Lok Sabha constituency) Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency is one of the five Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Uttarakhand. This constituency came into existence in 1957, following the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies. It comprises five districts namely ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, in the first general elections of independent India. He represented that constituency for four consecutive parliaments, between 1952–1970, before resigning in 1971. The cause of his resignation was a split in his party, the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, caused by an ideological dispute between factions headed by Indira Gandhi on the one hand and people such as

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...

on the other. Darshan did not want to take sides and so left to lead a private life in

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

Union Minister

As a Union Minister during 1963-1971 he held various portfolios. He was Deputy Minister for Education in the cabinets of

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

and

, and was later Minister of State for Transport and Minister of State for Education in Indira Gandhi's cabinet. He was the first Chairman of the

Kendriya Vidyalaya The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of central government schools in India that are instituted under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,248 schools in India, and three abroad in Moscow ...

Sangathan (Central School Organization). Darshan took keen interest in the development of Garhwal, especially in the matters of education and general welfare and upliftment of the poor and was associated with several organizations connected with the development of the region. He was involved in the promotion of

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, he served as Deputy Chairman Hindi Sansthan Uttar Pradesh; Vice Chancellor Kanpur University; Deputy Chairman Uttar Pradesh Khadi and Gram Udiyog Board, and was intimately connected with various social and cultural organizations. He also organised the

Kasturba Gandhi Kasturbai Mohandas Gandhi (, born Kasturbai Gokuldas Kapadia; 11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was an Indian political activist. She married Mohandas Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, in 1883. With her husband and her eldest so ...

National Memorial Fund. He worked relentlessly for the welfare of ex- servicemen and serving soldiers and also established

Azad Hind Fauj The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a Collaboration with the Axis powers, collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during Worl ...

Relief Fund. A promoter of healthy journalism. he was founder-editor of 'Karma Bhumi' a Hindi weekly. He wrote two publications, ''Suman Smriti Granth'' and ''Garhwal Ki Divangat Vibhutiyan''. Bhakt Darshan died on 30 April 1991 at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darshan, Bhakt India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 1912 births 1991 deaths Union deputy ministers of India People from Pauri Garhwal district