Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar (27 November 1888 – 27 February 1956) popularly known as ''Dadasaheb'' was an independence activist, the President (from 1946 to 1947) of the

Central Legislative Assembly The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometim ...

, then Speaker of the

Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

, and later the first Speaker of 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-p ...

, the lower house of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

. His son Purushottam Mavalankar was later elected to the Lok Sabha twice from Gujarat.

Early life

Mavalankar hailed from a Marathi family, lived and worked in Ahmedabad, former capital of

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 ...

. His family originally belonged to Mavalange in

Sangameshwar Sangameshwar Taluka is a taluka in Ratnagiri subdivision of Ratnagiri district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The headquarters for the taluka is the town of Devrukh.The headquarters was moved from the village of Sangameshwar to Devrukh in 1 ...

in the Ratnagiri district of the Bombay Presidency in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. After his early education in Rajapur and other places in Bombay Presidency, Mavalankar moved to Ahmedabad in 1902 for higher studies. He obtained his B.A. Degree in science from the

Gujarat College Gujarat Arts & Science College, popularly and previously known as Gujarat College, is one of the oldest educational institution of India and second arts and science college of Gujarat, near Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad. The institution was founded ...

, Ahmedabad, in 1908. He was a Dakshina Fellow of the College for one year in 1909 before beginning his law studies in the Government Law School, Bombay. He passed his law examination as First Class in 1912 and entered the legal profession in 1913. Soon, he came into contact with eminent leaders like

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...

and

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- ...

. He became the honorary secretary of the Gujarat Education Society in 1913 and the secretary of the Gujarat Sabha in 1916. Mavalankar was elected to the Ahmedabad Municipality for the first time in 1919. He was a member of the Ahmedabad Municipality during 1919–22, 1924–27, 1930–33 and 1935–37.

Political life

Mavalankar joined the

Indian Independence Movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

with the

Non-Cooperation Movement The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance.

. He was appointed secretary of the Gujarat Provincial Congress Committee during 1921–22. Although he temporarily joined the Swaraj Party in the 1920s, he returned to Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha in 1930. After the Congress abandoned its boycott of elections to the pre-independence legislative councils in 1934, Mavalankar was elected to the

Bombay Province The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

Legislative Assembly and became its Speaker in 1937. Mavalankar remained Speaker of the Bombay Legislative Assembly from 1937 to 1946. In 1946, he was elected also to the

.Subhash C. Kashyap (1989). ''Dada Saheb Mavalankar, Father of Lok Sabha'' (Published for the Lok Sabha Secretariat by the National Publishing House), pp. 9–11 Mavalankar remained the President of the Central Legislative Assembly until midnight of 14–15 August 1947 when, under the

Indian Independence Act 1947 The Indian Independence Act 1947 947 CHAPTER 30 10 and 11 Geo 6is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Act received Royal Assent on 18 Ju ...

, the Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of States ceased to exist and the

assumed full powers for the governance of India. Just after independence, Mavalankar headed a committee constituted on 20 August 1947 to study and report on the need to separate the constitution-making role of the Constituent Assembly from its legislative role. Later, on the basis of this committee's recommendation, the legislative and constitution-making roles of the Assembly were separated and it was decided to have a speaker to preside over the Assembly during its functioning as a legislative body. Mavalankar was elected to the office of speaker of the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) on 17 November 1947. With the adoption of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

on 26 November 1949, the nomenclature of the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) was changed to the Provisional Parliament. Mavalankar became the Speaker of the Provisional Parliament on 26 November 1949 and continued to occupy the office till the

First Lok Sabha The First Lok Sabha was constituted on 17 April 1952 after India's first general election. The 1st Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years and was dissolved on 4 April 1957. The First Session of this Lok Sabha commenced on 13 May 1952. ...

was constituted in 1952. On 15 May 1952, after the first general elections in independent India, Mavalankar, who was representing Ahmedabad for Congress, was elected the Speaker of the first Lok Sabha. The House carried the proposal with 394 votes, against the opponent's 55. In January 1956, Mavalankar suffered a heart attack and resigned his office. He died on 27 February 1956 in Ahmedabad after cardiac arrest, aged 67. His wife, Sushila Mavalankar, won the by poll caused by his death in 1956 unopposed. But she did not contest in 1957. His son Purushottam Mavalankar would later win this seat in 1972 by poll.

Education front

Mavalankar was one of the guiding forces with Patel in the educational sphere of Gujarat and was co-founder of the

Ahmadabad Education Society Ahmadabad Education Society is a premier educational trust, which has founded many schools and colleges in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.Ahmedabad, 1958 by Kapilray M. Mehta - Page 233 One of the largest academic trusts in Gujarat, consisting of 2 ...

along with

Kasturbhai Lalbhai Kasturbhai Lalbhai (19 December 1894 – 20 January 1980) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He co-founded the Arvind Mills along with his brothers and several other institutes. He was a cofounder of the Ahmadabad Education Soci ...

and Amritlal Hargovindas. Further, he along with Gandhi, Patel, and others was also one of the proposers of an institution like

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by NA ...

as early as the 1920s, which later came to be founded in 1949.

References

External links

An image of G.V. Mavalankar with his wife and son Balkrishna Mavalankar, Bombay, 12 May 1953

Lok Sabha condolence message Page 7
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mavlankar, Ganesh Vasudev 1956 deaths Indian independence activists from Maharashtra Presidents of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Speakers of the Lok Sabha Marathi people Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Members of the Constituent Assembly of India India MPs 1952–1957 Indian Hindus 1888 births Founders of Indian schools and colleges Lok Sabha members from Gujarat Pro tem Speakers of the Lok Sabha Bombay State politicians Indian National Congress politicians