Dinkar Krishnalal Mehta (17 October 190730 August 1989) was an Indian politician and trade unionist. Mehta headed the communist movement in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

for decades – leading the Gujarat state unit of the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

between 1936 and 1964, and then the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

between 1964 and 1989. He served as a legislator of

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding Sou ...

and

Mayor of Ahmedabad The Mayor of Ahmedabad, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat,Rishabh Magarwadia is the leader of the elected wing of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. He is elected for a term of 2.5 years and eligible for reappointment. The term of mayor is al ...

. Mehta was a prominent leader of the Mahagujarat movement, which struggled for the creation of a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

linguistic state.

Early life

Mehta was born on 17 October 1907. As a young man, Mehta become involved with the

Sabarmati Ashram Sabarmati Ashram (also known as Gandhi Ashram) is located in the Sabarmati suburb of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, adjoining the Ashram Road, on the banks of the River Sabarmati, from the town hall. This was one of the many residences of Mahatma Gandh ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. Mehta took part in the 1928

Bardoli Satyagraha The Bardoli Satyagraha, in the state of bardoli, India during the British Raj, was a major phase of civil disobedience and revolt in the Indian Independence Movement on 12 June 1928. The movement was eventually led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, an ...

and led the 1930

Dharasana Satyagraha Dharasana Satyagraha was a protest against the British salt tax in colonial India in May, 1930. Following the conclusion of the Salt March to Dandi, Mahatma Gandhi chose a non-violent raid of the Dharasana Salt Works in Gujarat as the next protes ...

. He was jailed for his role in the civil disobedience movements. He graduated in social sciences from

Gujarat Vidyapith Gujarat Vidyapith is a deemed university in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded in 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement, and deemed a university in 1963. Etymology "Vidyapith," in many languages of ...

in 1929, and would later teach there until 1933. In 1934, he took part in founding the Gujarat unit of the

Congress Socialist Party The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of th ...

(CSP).

In the Communist Party

In 1935, he became a member of the

. As of 1936, the CPI placed him in charge of leading the party in Gujarat. He served as joint secretary of the Congress Socialist Party between 1936 and 1938. He was suspended from the CSP membership in 1938 for disobeying its general secretary's instructions. He organised

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s and other mass organizations. He spent the years of 1940–1942 underground. Mehta was arrested in 1948, but managed to escape from jail the following year. He would remain underground until 1951. Mehta stood as the CPI candidate in the Ahmedabad III constituency in the 1952 Bombay Legislative Assembly election, standing against Congress candidate Indumati Chimanlal.Election Commission of India.
Bombay 1951
' Mehta finished in second place with 4,793 votes (17.76%). A by-election for one of the Ahmedabad City seats in the

Bombay Legislative Assembly Bombay Legislative Assembly came into existence in 1937, as the legislature of Bombay Presidency, a province of British India. It functioned until 1960, when separate states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were formed. History The first session of thi ...

was held on 4 June 1952. 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 ...

fielded the Chief Minister

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 ...

, CPI fielded Mehta. Desai won the seat with 18,583 votes (61.08%) against 11,841 (38.92%) votes for Mehta.Election Commission of India.
Bye-election results 1952-95
' He was elected to the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of CPI at its 1953 Madurai Party Congress.

Mahagujarat movement

Mehta was the Vice President of Maha Gujarat Janta Parishad between 1957 and 1960. He contested the unreserved seat of Gomtipur constituency in the

1957 Bombay Legislative Assembly election Elections to the Bombay Legislative Assembly were held on 25 February 1957. 1146 candidates contested for the 339 constituencies in the Assembly. There were 57 two-member constituencies and 282 single-member constituencies. The incumbent India ...

as an independent candidate, obtaining 37,862 votes (897 less votes than the winning candidate).Election Commission of India.
Bombay, 1967
' He was a Member of the Legislative Council of the Bombay State between 1958 and 1960. He stood as the Nutan Maha Gujarat Janta Parishad candidate in the Dariapur Kazipur constituency in the

1962 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election The 2nd Gujarat Legislative Assembly election was held in 1962. It was the first election after forming of two states Gujarat and Maharastra following split of Bombay State. Indian National Congress won 113 seats out of 154 seats. While, Swata ...

, finishing in second place with 17,237 votes (48.69%).Election Commission of India.
Gujarat 1962
'

CPI(M) leader

When the CPI was split in 1964, Mehta would join the

. Before the split, Mehta was the CPI Gujarat State Council Secretary and a member of the National Council of the party. He had not joined walk-out protest at the CPI National Council meeting on 11 April 1964, which marked the emergence of the Left CPI (later CPI(M)) as a separate party, but was identified as a leftist within CPI. Mehta attended the Tenali convention of the Left CPI in July 1964, and afterwards organised a special convention at Ahmedabad to present a report from Tenali. On 5 August 1964, the Maha Gujarat Janata Parishad organized a state-wide

hartal Hartal () is a term in many Indian languages for a strike action that was first used during the Indian independence movement (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a mass protest, often involving a total sh ...

(general strike). Mehta took part in mobilising mill workers to join the strike. After the hartal, Mehta and other party leaders were arrested. Mehta was elected to the Central Committee of CPI(M) at the 7th Party Congress, held at Calcutta in October–November 1964. He became the Gujarat State Committee Secretary of CPI(M), a post he would hold until his death. Mehta authored many works on Marxist theory in

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gu ...

. Mehta was elected the

in 1966, and served in the role until 1967. He contested the Dariapur Kazipur seat again in the

1967 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election The 3rd Gujarat Legislative Assembly election was held in 1967. It was the second election held after formation of Gujarat. Indian National Congress (INC) won 93 seats out of 168 seats. While, Swatantra Party (SWA) won 66 seats. INC performed b ...

, as an independent, finishing in second place with 19,574 votes (43.68%).Election Commission of India.
Gujarat 1967
' Dinkar Mehta died on 30 August 1989. He had suffered from ill health during the last years in his life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Dinkar 1907 births 1989 deaths Members of the Bombay Legislative Council Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians Mayors of Ahmedabad