Major General Jaganath Rao Bhonsle, also known as Jagannathrao Krishnarao BhonsleOctober 1939 Indian Army List (20 April 1906 – 14 May 1963) was an Indian military officer, independence activist, and politician. As a member of the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

, Bhonsle served as the Azad Hind's minister for armed forces in the Azad Hind. After the war, he was a minister and MP in India after independence. Bhonsle was born in the village of Tiroda in

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 of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, then part of the

Bombay Presidency 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 ...

of the British Raj, and was a member of the Tirodkar Bhonsle royal family. He graduated from the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College at Dehradun in 1926 and then went to the Royal Military College Sandhurst, where on 2 February 1928 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He then spent a year attached to a British Army regiment in India before posting to his permanent

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

unit on 12 April 1929, which was the 5th Royal Battalion of 5th Mahratta Light Infantry. He was promoted to lieutenant on 2 May 1930, and to captain on 2 February 1937. He fought at the Battle of Singapore and was taken as a prisoner of war after the Fall of Singapore. He was one of the first volunteers to the

First Indian National Army The First Indian National Army (First INA) was the Indian National Army as it existed between February and December 1942. It was formed with Japanese aid and support after the Fall of Singapore and consisted of approximately 12,000 of the 40,0 ...

led by

Mohan Singh Mohan Singh (4 March 1945 – 22 September 2013) was an Indian politician from the Samajwadi Party. He was elected three times to the Lok Sabha from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. He was the General Secretary of the Samajwadi Party. He died on 22 ...

, where was appointed as commander of the

Hindustan Field Force The Hindustan Field Force was the first operational regiment of the Indian National Army that was formed in September 1942 under the first INA. Under the command of J.K. Bhonsle, the unit was formed at Singapore and comprised three battalions deri ...

. After this army collapsed due to disagreements with the Japanese, the Indian Independence League placed the remains of it under

Mohammed Zaman Kiani Major General Mohammed Zaman Kiani (1 October 1910 – 4 June 1981) was an officer of the British Indian Army who later joined the Indian National Army (INA), led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and commanded its 1st Division. He earned the Sword of Hon ...

as Army Commander and Bhonsle as Director of the Military Bureau, which was in charge of the general policy and finances of the INA. After the formation of the second

in 1943, led by

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

, Bhonsle became Chief of Staff and served in this position until the end of the war. When Bose flew to Tokyo in August 1945, Bhonsle was left in charge of the INA in Bangkok, where he was captured by British forces. After the fall of Japan in 1945, Bhonsle returned to Bombay, and founded the Indian Ex-Services Organisation, an organisation for Indian veterans of the World Wars. He would serve as its President until he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1951. Following Indian independence in 1947, Bhonsle was appointed Minister for Rehabilitation by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, helping Hindu immigrants from the newly-founded Pakistan find life in India. Working for the rehabilitation of the Sindhi migrant community, he was honoured by the Sindhi community and thanked for his work in an open letter. Bhonsle was also elected as Member of Parliament with a 40,940-vote landslide in the first Lok Sabha election, serving the Ratnagiri North electoral district of Bombay. He was the main proponent of the National Service Scheme, although he never lived to see it, for he would die 6 years before its establishment in 1969.

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References

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhonsle, J. R. 1906 births 1963 deaths Indian National Army personnel Azad Hind Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Indian Army officers Union deputy ministers of India Rashtriya Indian Military College alumni India MPs 1952–1957