Ramkrishna Suryabhan Gavai (30 October 1929 – 25 July 2015), popularly known as Dadasaheb Gavai, was an Indian politician, social activist, senior leader of the Ambedkarite movement, and founder of the

Republican Party of India (Gavai) The Republican Party of India (Gawai) is a political party in India. It is a splinter group of the Republican Party of India. The leaders are List of Governors of Kerala, former Governor of Kerala R. S. Gavai and his son Rajendra Gawai.The curr ...

. He was the President of Ambedkar's ideological party

Republican Party of India The Republican Party of India (RPI, often called the Republican Party or simply Republican) is a political party in India. It has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. The 'Training School for Entrance to Polit ...

, through this party, he did many works in political and social fields. Gavai also worked with

Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

, a polymath and the father of the republic of India. He was the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the three states of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, as well as he has served in both houses of the

Indian Parliament 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 ...

, 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-past ...

and 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 ...

. Gavai was a 30-year member (MLC) of the

Maharashtra Legislative Council The Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad or Maharashtra Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra states and territories of India, state in western India. Location The seat of the Vidhan Parishad is situated at ...

during which he served on the posts of the chairman, the deputy chairman, and the Opposition leader of the council.

Life and career

Gavai was born in 1929 at Daryapur,

Amravati Amravati (pronunciation (help·info)) is the second largest city in the Vidarbha region and ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India. It is administrative headquarters of Amravati district and Amravati division which includes Akola, Buldha ...

. He was an

Ambedkarite Ambedkarism is called as the teaching, ideology or philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar, an Indian econonist, polymath, barrister, social reformer, human-rights advocate, and the architect of Indian Constitution. Ambedkarism includes the principles of Nava ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. An agriculturist by profession and an avid wrestler, Gavai was from the state of

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 ...

. From 1964 to 1994, he was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council; during that time, he was Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council from 1968 to 1978, chairman from 1978 to 1984, and twice Leader of the Opposition of the Legislative Council from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1991."R.S. Gavai is new Kerala Governor"
''The Hindu'', 27 June 2008. In 1998, Gavai was elected to the

12th Lok Sabha This is the list of members of the 12th Lok Sabha, (10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999) after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that d ...

from

. He was member of Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra State April 2000 until April 2006. In June 2006 he became the

Governor of Bihar The governor of Bihar is a nominal head and representative of the President of India in the state of Bihar. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of 5 years. Phagu Chauhan is the current governor of Bihar. Former President Zaki ...

. He was the acting

Governor of Sikkim The governor of Sikkim is the head of state of the Indian state of Sikkim. The governor is the representative of the president of India in the state and is the nominal head of the state's executive power. This is a list of the governors of S ...

from 13 July 2006 to 12 August 2006. On 26 June 2008, Gavai was instead appointed Governor of

, switching posts with Kerala Governor R. L. Bhatia. He was sworn in as Governor of Kerala on 10 July 2008. Gavai was a recipient of the Kusta Mitra Award, as well as the National Integration awards for peace and harmony. He was President of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Smarak Samiti, Deeksha Bhoomi, Nagpur and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, Amravati. He died on 25 July 2015 at Nagpur. He is survived by wife Kamaltai and two sons

Bhushan Gavai Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai (born on 24 November 1960)is a judge of Supreme Court of India. He is former judge of the Bombay High Court. He is the chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur. He is set to become the 52nd c ...

, a judge of the Supreme Court Of India,

Rajendra Gavai Rajendra Gavai is the President of Republican Party of India (Gavai). Occupation Physician, Politician. Early life and education He is the son of the late Kerala Governor R.S. Gavai. obtain M.B.B.S. from Govt. Medical College, Nagpur in 1986. He ...

, a prominent political leader and daughter Kirti.

Overruling of AG's advice in Lavalin case

On 7 June 2009, Gavai gave the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

permission to prosecute CPI(M) Kerala State Secretary and former Kerala Electricity Minister

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian Communist politician who is the current Chief Minister of Kerala, serving since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), he is the longest-serving sec ...

in the SNC-Lavalin case. This became controversial as he ignored the advice of the Advocate General not to allow the CBI to prosecute Vijayan. The CPI(M) termed Gavai's decision as unfortunate and politically motivated, whereas the opposition parties of the state, including

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 ...

, welcomed the governor's decision.

References

External links

Profile on Bihar Govt web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavai, Ramkrishnan Suryabhan 1929 births 2015 deaths Members of the Maharashtra Legislative Council Governors of Sikkim Governors of Bihar Governors of Kerala India MPs 1998–1999 Republican Party of India politicians Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra People from Amravati district Leaders of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Chairs of the Maharashtra Legislative Council Indian Buddhists Marathi-language writers Buddhist activists 20th-century Buddhists 21st-century Buddhists Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism