Shreedhar Mahadev Joshi, also known as S.M. Joshi (12 November 1904 – 1 April 1989), was an Indian independence activist, a

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, a Member of Parliament, and leader of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti.

Biography

Born 12 November 1904, in Junnar,

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, Shreedhar Mahadev Joshi is considered a distinguished personality among the stalwarts of the socialist movement in India. A well-known social worker, he served as the Chairman of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) and the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP) and was a founder member of the

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

. Joshi excelled in his academic years both at school and college. A student of New Modern English School, Pune, he displayed outstanding oratory skill in contests while at the Fergusson College and won innumerable prizes. His literary excellence was well reflected in his regular article contributions. He was motivated to move into politics after participating in the

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

festivals and Tilak processions. He entered the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

in 1924 while still studying at college. Joshi was jailed for one year in 1930 for his involvement in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Following his release, he was again put behind bars for another two years for a speech he made on "Roy's Day". This earned him a lot of acclaim from the people of India. His notable contributions to the socialist movement include the formation of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934, the Rashtra Seva Dal, and his role in the revolutionary campaign launched by Jayaprakash Narayan. In his political career, he worked as the secretary of the Maharashtra Youth Conference and the Mass-Contact Committee. He played a key role in the success of the (Congress Convention). He was a member of the All-India Congress Socialist Party. His other notable social work includes his participation in the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti's drive for a unilingual Marathi speaking Maharashtra state, setting up worker unions, and working for the cause of the Dalits in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. He became a State Assembly member in 1957, and secured a

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

seat in 1967. Joshi died in 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshi, Shreedhar Mahadev 1904 births 1989 deaths Praja Socialist Party politicians India MPs 1967–1970 Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra People from Pune district Leaders of the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Marathi politicians Samyukta Socialist Party politicians Janata Party politicians