Kumudben Manishankar Joshi (31 January 1934 – 14 March 2022) was an Indian politician.

Biography

She was the Governor of the Indian state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

from 26 November 1985 to 7 February 1990. She was the second female Governor of the state after

Sharda Mukherjee Sharada Mukherjee (1919–2007) was an Indian socialite and politician who was member of Lok Sabha in 1960s, and later served as Governor of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Biography Sharada was born into a Maharashtrian family as S ...

. She also became Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting (October 1980 – January 1982) and Deputy Minister of Health and Family Welfare (January 1982 – December 1984). Joshi was a member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

thrice, from 15 October 1973 to 2 April 1976, 3 April 1976 to 2 April 1982 and from 3 April 1982 to 25 November 1985. She was also the General Secretary, Gujarat P.C.C. Soon after taking charge, she travelled to all the state's 23 districts and often outside, to create a record of sorts - that of being more active than her 13 predecessors in Hyderabad's

Raj Bhavan Raj Bhavan () is the common name of the official residences of the governors of the states of India and may refer to: List of Raj Bhavan See also * Raj Niwas *Rashtrapati Bhavan *Rashtrapati Nilayam *Rashtrapati Niwas The Rashtrapati Niwas ...

. Between 26 November 1985 and 30 September 1987 she travelled to the districts on 108 occasions, and outside the state 22 times.

Rama Rao Rama Rao or Ramarao may refer to: * A. V. Rama Rao, Indian inventor and chemist * Gokina Rama Rao, Telugu film character artist * K. S. Rama Rao, Telugu film producer * K. T. Rama Rao, Indian politician * M. S. Ramarao, Telugu film singer and com ...

, the then Chief Minister and his partymen saw this as an attempt by Joshi to build a stronger base for the Congress.

Controversies

Kumudben Manishanker Joshi was under the threats from the ruling

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (; TDP) is an Indian regional political party operating in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at the state and central level. Since its founding by N. T. Rama Rao (often referred to as NTR) on 29 March 1982, the party has foc ...

(TDP) during her tenure in the Raj Bhawan. The campaign against her hotted up after the state Cabinet adopted a resolution criticising the "tenor and content" of her Republic Day parade speech "belittling the remarkable progress made by the state". It also asked Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao to write to President

R. Venkataraman Ramaswamy Venkataraman (, 4 December 191027 January 2009) was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the eighth president of India. Venkataraman was born in Rajamadam village in Ta ...

in this regard. TDP ministers accused her of behaving like'' a Congress(I) agent''. In her 20-minute extempore speech in Hindi, Joshi had said: "No state will be able to progress without the support of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in implementing development programmes." She pointed out that the Central Government spent Rs 4 crore daily at the Vishakhapatnam steel project and provided a subsidy ranging from 75 paise to Re 1 for the distribution of foodgrains. Evidently, the top's charge of discrimination towards non-Congress(I) states was at the back of her mind. Forest Minister G. Muddukrishnama Naidu soon accused her of projecting only centrally-sponsored schemes and glossing over the welfare measures implemented by the state Government. According to Cooperation Minister N. Yethiraja Rao: "She has downgraded the office of the governor to that of a Congress(I) public relations officer." Joshi reacted by granting a number of interviews to local newspapers in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. She dismissed the charges as "rubbish" and said, "it is below my dignity to reply to such criticism."

Death

She died in Changa Dhanori village near

Gandevi Gandevi is a City and a Municipality in Navsari district in the state of Gujarat, India. History Gandevi has a special place in Shivaji Maharaj's 1st Surat campaign, Battle of Surat Demographics As of 2001 India census, Gandevi had a total p ...

, on 14 March 2022, at the age of 88.

References

1934 births 2022 deaths Governors of Andhra Pradesh Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat Women state governors of India Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat Women in Gujarat politics Union deputy ministers of India Women in Andhra Pradesh politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Women union ministers of state of India Women members of the Rajya Sabha {{Gujarat-INC-politician-stub