Gopalkrishna Devadas Gandhi (born 22 April 1945) is a former administrator and diplomat who served as the 22nd Governor of West Bengal serving from 2004 to 2009. He is the grandson of

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- ...

and C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). As a former

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

officer he served as Secretary to the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

and as High Commissioner to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, among other administrative and diplomatic posts.Gopal Gandhi
''outlookindia.com''. 23 Apr 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2014 He was the

United Progressive Alliance United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a centre-left political alliance of predominantly left-leaning political parties in India. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single party ...

nominee for Vice President of India 2017 elections and lost with 244 votes against NDA candidate Venkaiah Naidu, who got 516 votes.

Early life and background

Gopalkrishna Devadas Gandhi was born on 22 April 1945 in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, to Devdas and Lakshmi Gandhi. His father was a journalist. Gandhi graduated with a master's degree in English literature from St. Stephen's College of

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

Career

He joined

as an Officer in 1968 and served in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

state till 1985. Thereafter, he remained Secretary to Vice-President of India (1985–1987), Joint Secretary to

(1987–1992). In 1992, after retiring voluntarily from the IAS, he became Minister (Culture) in High Commission of India, UK and Director of The Nehru Centre, London, UK. This was followed by various diplomatic and administrative positions for the rest of his career, including High Commissioner of India to

and

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

(1996), Secretary to President of India (1997–2000), High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka (2000), and Ambassador of India to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

(2002). On 14 December 2004, he was appointed Governor of West Bengal following the expiry of the term of office of incumbent

Viren J. Shah Viren J. Shah (12 May 1926 – 9 March 2013) was an Indian politician and 17th Governor of West Bengal. Shah was a member of Lok Sabha from 1967 to 1970 and of Rajya Sabha during 1975–1981 and 1990–1996. He had served as treasurer of the ...

. He was succeeded by

Devanand Konwar Devanand Konwar (1934 – 25 April 2020) was a senior congressman from Assam who served as the Governor of the Indian states of Tripura, Bihar and West Bengal. Career Konwar began his career as a lecturer in the English Department of Cotton C ...

(the serving governor of

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

), who was given additional charge of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. For a few months in 2006 he also took on additional duties as the Governor of Bihar. He was the Chairman of Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai from December 2011 to May 2014. In 2015, he translated the Tamil classic, the Tirukkural, into English. He was the chairman of governing body of

Indian Institute of Advanced Study The Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) is a research institute located in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and started functioning from 20 October 1965. History and establishment The ...

, and president of its society on 5 March 2012 and served until May 2014. Mr. Gandhi teaches at

Ashoka University Ashoka University is a philanthropy-driven private university located in the National Capital Region (NCR), India, focusing on a liberal education in the Humanities, the Social Sciences, and the Sciences. The university is on a mission to buil ...

, where he is a Professor of History and Politics.

Controversies

While delivering the 15th D P Kohli Memorial Lecture for CBI on "Eclipse at Noon: Shadows Over India's Conscience" with nearly 3000 officers of the agency in the audience, Gandhi noted that "The CBI is seen as the government's hatchet, rather than honesty's ally. It is often called

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

— meaning not the dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane, the colourless, tasteless, odourless insecticide it should be, but the department of dirty tricks." In 2015, he wrote a letter to the President of India,

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

, to reconsider the rejection of the mercy plea of the 1993 Mumbai serial blast convict, Yakub Memon.

Personal life

His paternal grandfather was

and maternal grandfather was C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). He is the son of Devadas Gandhi and Lakshmi Gandhi. Gopalkrishna Gandhi is the younger brother of

Rajmohan Gandhi Rajmohan Gandhi (born 7 August 1935) is an Indian biographer, historian, and research professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US. His paternal grandfather is Mahatma Gandhi, ...

Ramchandra Gandhi Ramchandra Gandhi (9 June 1937 – 13 June 2007) was an Indian philosopher. He was the son of Devdas Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi's youngest son) and Lakshmi (daughter of Rajaji) and also brother of Rajmohan Gandhi, Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Tara Gan ...

, and Smt. Tara Bhattacharjee (Gandhi). Gopalkrishna Gandhi and his wife Tara have two daughters.

Bibliography

Hindi * ''Saranam'', translated as ''Refuge'' in English * ''Dara Shukoh'', a play in verse * ''Koi Acchha Sa Larka'' (translation into Hindustani of

Vikram Seth Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is an Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novels and poetry books. He has won several awards such as Padma Shri, Sahitya Academy Award, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crosswor ...

's ''

A Suitable Boy ''A Suitable Boy'' is a novel by Vikram Seth, published in 1993. With 1,349 pages (1,488 pages in paperback), the English-language book is one of the longest novels published in a single volume. ''A Suitable Boy'' is set in a newly post-inde ...

'') English * ''Gandhi and South Africa'' * ''Gandhi and Sri Lanka'' * ''Nehru and Sri Lanka'' * ''India House, Colombo: Portrait of a Residence'' * ''Gandhi Is Gone. Who Will Guide Us Now?'' (edited) * ''A Frank Friendship/ Gandhi and Bengal: A Descriptive Chronology'' (compiled and edited). * ''Tiruvalluvar: The Tirukkural'' (translated from the Tamil original) (2015) * "Restless as Mercury : My Life As A Young Man" (ed. Aleph, 2021) * "Scorching Love : Letters from M.K.Gandhi to his son Devadas" (ed. with Tridip Suhrud, OUP, 2022)

Notes

External links

Gopalkrishna Gandhi Profile
of the Governor of Bihar website. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Gopalakrishna 1945 births 21st-century Indian politicians Ambassadors of India to Iceland Ambassadors of India to Norway Indian civil servants Governors of Bihar Governors of West Bengal Gujarati people High Commissioners of India to South Africa High Commissioners of India to Sri Lanka Living people Gopalkrishna St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Tamil–English translators Translators from English Translators to Hindi Tirukkural translators Translators of the Tirukkural into English People of the Sri Lankan Civil War Indian Peace Keeping Force Modern School (New Delhi) alumni