Vishnu Ghanashyam Deshpande was an Indian politician. He was born in Mehkar, Vidarbha, Maharashtra. V.G. Deshpande was the general secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha.[1]
V.G. Deshpande took part in the civil resisters' mission of the Hindu Mahasabha to the Hyderabad state in March 1939, to protest against the Nizam's rule.[2]
During the period of 1948 to 1952, V.G. Deshpande was repeatedly targeted by preventive arrests.[3] On 27 January 1948 he had denounced Mohandas Gandhi, claiming Gandhi was responsible for the Partition of India.[4] After the murder of Gandhi three days later by a Hindu Mahasabha member, Deshpande was arrested.[5]
In the 1951 general election, V.G. Deshpande managed to get elected from two Lok Sabha constituencies (Gwalior and Guna).[6] In Guna he obtained 56,518 votes (40.70% of the votes in the constituency), defeating the Indian National Congress candidate Gopi Krishna Vijayvargiya. In Gwailor he got 65,695 votes (45.49%), defeating the Vaidehi Charan Parashar.[7] He renounced his Gwailor seat, to enable Hindu Mahasabha president N. B. Khare to contest it in a by-election.[6]
V.G. Deshpande lost his parliamentary seat in the 1957 general election to Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia of the Indian National Congress.[8] He finished second with 58,521 votes (33.04% of the votes in Guna).[9] He later joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.[10]
In early 1964, V.G. Deshpande called for on the Indian and Pakistani governments to initiate a population exchange, transporting the Hindu minority of Pakistan to India and expelling the Muslims of West Bengal and Assam to Pakistan.[11]
V. G. Deshpande took part in the foundation of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in 1964.[12]
His brother, N.G. Deshpande (1909-2000), was a noted Marathi poet. His cousin, Sumati-bai Sukalikar, was also a leader of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in Nagpur, who contested a couple of elections unsuccessfully.
References edit
- ^ Ralhan, Om Prakash. Post-Independence India: Indian National Congress. Encyclopaedia of political parties : India, Pakistan, Bangladesh; national, regional, local, Vol. 33. New Delhi: Anmol Publ, 1998, ISBN 8174888659. p. 67
- ^ Joglekar, Jaywant D. Veer Savarkar Father of Hindu Nationalism. ISBN 1847283802. pp. 124-125
- ^ Jaffrelot 1996, p. 107.
- ^ Jaffrelot 1996, p. 82.
- ^ Swain, Pratap Chandra. Bharatiya Janata Party: Profile and Performance. New Delhi: A.P.H. Pub. Corp, 2001. ISBN 8176482579, p. 58
- ^ a b Jaffrelot 1996, p. 110.
- ^ Statistical Report 1951
- ^ Jaffrelot 1996, p. 112.
- ^ Statistical Report 1957
- ^ Jaffrelot 1996, p. 153.
- ^ Aggarwal, J. C., and S. P. Agrawal. Modern History of Jammu and Kashmir: Ancient Times to Shimla Agreement. New Delhi: Concept Publ. Co, 1995. ISBN 8170225574. p. 326
- ^ Jaffrelot 1996, p. 198.
Sources
- Jaffrelot, Christophe (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 978-1850653011.