Bhai Mahavir (30 October 1922 - 3 December 2016) was an Indian politician who was governor of the Indian state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

between April 1998 and March 2003. He was a

pracharak The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family") ...

of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

(RSS) and served as a leader of the

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) ( ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...

and

Bharatiya Janata Party 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 ...

. He has authored many books and had served two terms prior to his governorship as 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 ...

. He had an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics and studied Law (LLB) from the University of Delhi.

Life and career

Bhai Mahavir was the son of

Bhai Parmanand Bhai Parmanand (4 November 1876 – 8 December 1947) was an Indian nationalist and a prominent leader of the Hindu Mahasabha. Early life Parmanand was born into a prominent family of the Punjab, Mohyal Brahmins. His father, Tara Chand Mohyal, ...

, a Mohyal Brahmin, member of

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sanny ...

and a leader of the Hindu Mahasabha. He grew up with an Arya Samaj background and went to study at the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. His ancestors were famous martyrs of Sikhism i.e. Bhai Matidas and Bhai Satidas. Mahavir joined the RSS in 1938, in a ''shakha'' established by Raja Bhau Paturkar in Lahore. He became a

in 1942, and worked in that capacity in

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

for 2 years. Between 1944 and 1947 he was the Secretary of RSS in Lahore. After the

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

, he settled down in Jalandhar and worked as a lecturer. He moved to Delhi in 1956, working as a lecturer in the Panjab University College established for the Panjabi refugees. Towards the end of 1950,

Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Syama Prasad Mukherjee (6 July 1901 – 23 June 1953) was an Indian politician, barrister and academician, who served as India's first Minister for Industry and Supply (currently known as Ministry of Commerce and Industry) in Jawaharlal Nehru' ...

gathered in Delhi a core group of activists to form a new political party, the future

. Bhai Mahavir was among this group, along with Vasantrao Oak and Balraj Madhok, all RSS'' Pracharaks''. The three of them founded the Panjab-Delhi branch of the Jana Sangh in Jalandhar on 27 May 1951, which later became part of the nationwide `Bharatiya' Jana Sangh established on 21 October. Mahavir was named a General Secretary of the nationwide party. He served in that capacity for one year, succeeded by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1952. He continued on the Working Committee of the Jana Sangh, along with several other RSS leaders who controlled the policy line of Jana Sangh. After the death of Mookerjee in 1953, the RSS members of the Working Committee forced out the next elected President Mauli Chandra Sharma, in effect taking full control of the Jana Sangh. Mahavir continued in senior positions in the Jana Sangh and later in

. He was elected to the

during 1968-74 and 1978–84. In 1998, he was appointed the Governor of

and served a full term till 2003.

Personal life

Bhai Mahavir had two daughters and three grandchildren. He was married to Krishna Kumari who died in New Delhi on 14 December 2012. Bhai Mahavir passed away at his home in Delhi on 3 December 2016.

References

Sources * * * 1921 births 2016 deaths Politicians from Jhansi Arya Samajis Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Delhi Rajya Sabha members from Delhi Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh Governors of Madhya Pradesh Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India) {{Delhi-BJP-politician-stub