Ramakant Khalap (born 5 August 1946) is an Indian politician from

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, India. Khalap was a member of the

11th Lok Sabha General elections were held in India in 1996 Indian general election, April–May 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force t ...

. He is also former deputy Chief Minister of Goa.

Early life

Khalap was born at

Mandrem Mandrem is a coastal village famous as a tourist spot in Pernem taluka in North Goa district of Goa state in India. It is 21 km from the capital Panaji. About It has two main beaches: Junas and Ashvem. The village has 11 wards. Mandre ...

, in

Portuguese Goa Old Goa ( Konkani: ; pt, Velha Goa, translation='Old Goa') is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The ci ...

to a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

couple, Dattaram and Satyabhama Khalap. He worked as a school teacher and later as a college lecturer. After this, he completed a law degree, and soon became a famous and successful lawyer of

Political career

After the death of then Chief Minister of Goa

Dayanand Bandodkar Dayanand Balkrishna Bandodkar (12 March 1911 – 12 August 1973) and popularly known as Bhausaheb Bandodkar was the first Chief Minister of Goa, in the territory of Goa, Damaon& Diu. Born in Pernem to a Marathi family who had immigrated from ...

, the

Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party ( MGP) was Goa's first ruling party after the end of Portuguese rule in Goa in 1961. In the first elections held after the Annexation of Goa by India, it ascended to power in December 1963 and stayed in power t ...

put their support behind Khalap to contest the By-Election from the Mandrem Assembly seat left vacant by death of Bandodkar. Bhaie (Elder Brother), as Khalap is affectionately known in Goa, served as in his role in the Mandrem Assembly seat six times, five of them consecutively and then once more after serving in the eleventh Lok Sabha. Khalep was considered the most popular leader of the common man of Goa after Bhau Bandodkar. After

Shashikala Kakodkar Shashikala Kakodkar (7 January 1935 – 28 October 2016), popularly known as ''Tai'' ( mr, ताई; ), was a prominent leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). She served as the Chief Minister of Goa, Daman and Diu on two occasio ...

left

and joined

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 ...

, Khalap became leader of

Goa Legislative Assembly The Goa Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the state of Goa in India. The Assembly meets at the Goa State Legislative Assembly Complex in Porvorim, Bardez. The Eighth Goa Legislative Assembly consists of 40 members. The asse ...

. Under his leadership, the

rose in prominence rapidly, winning eighteen seats in the subsequent elections. As recorded by the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

in the cases Dr. Kashinath Jalmi V/s

State of Goa Goa () is a States and union territories of India, state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan Plateau, Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian st ...

and

Ravi Naik Ravi S. Naik (born 18 September 1946) is a former chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party politician in Goa, India. He started his career on the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. Early life He was born on 18 September 1946 in Ponda, Goa. His ...

V/s

at one time

had clear majority of 25 MLAs in the 40 member

, however by blatant misuse of his powers under the Anti Defection Law and Constitution of India, the then

Governor of Goa The governor of Goa is a nominal head and representative of the president of India in the state of Goa. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. P. S. Sreedharan Pillai became governor on 7 July 2021. Powers and func ...

did not make Khalap Chief Minister of Goa. Khalap was

Law Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...

of India. As

he enacted the Arbitration Act of India and drafted amendments to The Code of Civil Procedure of India and the

Code of Criminal Procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or i ...

s of India. Khalap introduced the Women's Reservation Bill in the Parliament. Khalap has been

Leader of Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

of Goa Assembly, President of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Deputy Chief Minister of Goa, Finance Minister of Goa, Minister of Water Resources of Goa, Minister of Social Welfare Department of Goa, Minister for Information Technology and Deputy Chairman of the Goa State Planning Board. There is a school named after him called Ramakant Khalap High School at

. He is Chairman of a Multi State Scheduled Co-operative Bank called The Mapusa Urban Co-operative Bank of Goa ( Bank of Goa). He formed Bardez Bazaar, a consumers cooperative society to cater needs of consumers of Goa. He was President of the Goa Cricket Association. Ramakant Khalap is actively involved with Konkan Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Samrat Club, Gomantak Marathi Parishad and Kala Academy Goa. Khalap is also a trustee of the Pravara Medical Trust which runs medical and other colleges at Pravaranagar, Maharashtra. Khalap has several developmental achievements to his credit. As Deputy Chief Minister of Goa and Minister of Social Welfare Department he started Dayanand Social Security Scheme of old age pension which he named after

. He was instrumental in forming the

Konkan Railway Corporation Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) is an Indian public sector undertaking which operates Konkan Railway and also undertakes other railway-related projects. It is wholly-owned by the Government of India under the administrative control of ...

and start the

Konkan Railway The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The first passenger train ran on Konkan railway tracks on 20 March 1993, between Udupi and ...

along with Prof. Madhu Dandawate,

George Fernandes George Mathew Fernandes (3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the 22nd Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. He was a member of Lok Sabha for over 30 years, starting f ...

and others. He successfully lead the pro-railway agitation against the opposition to

. When Khalap became MP on the first day of the house itself in a speech on reference to the late

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 ...

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (; 19 May 1913 – 1 June 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth President of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independence ...

, Khalap demanded that best remembrance for the late President would be completion of a Bridge at Dhargal on NH 17 whose foundation stone was laid by

. All the Lok Sabha members were so impressed that Khalap was successful in getting completion of two bridges, one on NH 17 at Dhargal and another one on

Chapora river Chapora River is a river in northern Goa, India. It runs westward into the Arabian sea at Chapora and demarcates the border between the North Goa talukas of Pernem and Bardez. The river originates at Ramghat in the neighbouring state of Maharash ...

. Khalap, later as a Minister in

H. D. Deve Gowda Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (; born 18 May 1933 in) is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka. He served as the 11th prime minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th Chief Minister of Karn ...

Government was instrumental in getting the

International Airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

for

at Mopa. As Minister of Water Resources of Goa, Khalap completed River Linkage project, linking all the rivers and water bodies and further brought water of Tillari Irrigation Project to Goa ending water shortage of Goa. Khalap got created the Information Technology Department for Govt. of Goa and was the first IT Minister of Goa. All the notable work of Goa in IT sector is due to Bhaie, even when he was in opposition, Khalap secured interest of ordinary Goans in every field. As a strong Marathi supporter Khalap secured interest of Marathi in the language issue as official language of the State of Goa, in the Goa Official Languages Act, though Khalap was leader of opposition at the time and the ruling congress party was in favour of Konkani. On language issue Khalap is of the opinion that

, Konkani with Davnagari script and Konkani with

Roman script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Italy ...

, all three should be official languages of Goa and that primary education should be in mother tongue with one paper of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Khalap's tenure as

was so successful that the

Pramod Mahajan Pramod Vyankatesh Mahajan (30 October 1949 – 3 May 2006) was an Indian politician from Maharashtra. A second-generation leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he belonged to a group of relatively young "technocratic" leaders. At the time ...

famously said that, he is a member of the single largest party in the parliament and he is in opposition".......And He is Mr. Ramakanth Khalap, he is the only member of his party and he is the Government."This is what democracy in India is! Khalap is a senior leader of

and a member of

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

(AICC). Khalap is also a GPCC Executive Committee member, member of Manifesto Implementation Committee and Spokesman of Goa Pradesh Congress. For a short while he joined

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

when circumstances were such that

rule in

was inevitable due to pressure of BJP government at centre. Khalap famously explained it to his supporters as 'Bachenge to aur ladenge'. Khalap is a freedom fighter who started his political career as an aid to other freedom fighters working for liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule. He is considered a politician of old block, a non-corrupt principled politician. His opponents, though tried to falsely implicate him, on one hand, people of Goa have continued to keep faith in Khalap, on the other hand, those opposing Khalap are themselves found to be charge-sheeted for scams and corruption. Khalap was also the Chairman of the Goa State Law Commission with Cabinet Minister Rank. As the Chairman of the Law Commission, Goa he drafted bills to make revolutionary changes in Revenue Administration and Revenue Courts in the State of Goa. He also worked on amendment of Portuguese laws of Goa along with other members of the Law Commission. Khalap is the Founder Chairman of the International Arbitration Centre Goa.

Personal life

Khalap is a

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

by caste. He is married to Nirmala Khalap and has three sons, Shriniwas (lawyer) married to Shraddha Khalap who contested the

2017 Goa Legislative Assembly election : The Goa Legislative Assembly election, 2017 was held on February 4, 2017 to elect the 40 members of the Seventh Goa Legislative Assembly, as the term of Sixth Legislative Assembly ended on March 18, 2017. VVPAT-fitted EVMs was used in entire ...

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (; AAP) is a political party in India, as one of the national political parties. The AAP was founded in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, popular ...

ticket from Mapusa constituency; Nikhilchandra (Civil engineer) married to Pratiksha (a doctor and clinical researcher by profession); and Ashwin (hotelier). Khalap has a granddaughter Anahita and 3 grandsons named Ojas, Jaikeshi and Om.Congressman Ramakant Khalap’s daughter-in-law gets AAP nomination for Goa polls
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References

External links

* http://www.goanews.com/blogs_disp.php?uid=8 * http://goalawcommission.gov.in/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Khalap, Ramakant Living people 1947 births Members of the Goa Legislative Assembly India MPs 1996–1997 Lok Sabha members from Goa Law Ministers of India Deputy chief ministers of Goa People from North Goa district Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Goa Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Goa Leaders of the Opposition in Goa Union ministers of state of India