https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Bhai_MahavirBhai Mahavir - Revision history2026-07-31T09:37:02ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Bhai_Mahavir&diff=475010&oldid=prevNeeraj Singh Creator at 00:01, 19 January 20262026-01-19T00:01:19Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian politician}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2013}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}<br />
{{Infobox officeholder<br />
|name = Bhai Mahavir<br />
|image = Dr. B. Mahavir Pic Black and White.jpg<br />
|caption = Dr. Bhai Mahavir<br />
|order = 12th<br />
|office = Governor of Madhya Pradesh<br />
|term_start = 22 April 1998<br />
|term_end = 7 May 2003<br />
|1blankname = Chief Minister <br />
|1namedata = [[Digvijaya Singh]]<br />
|predecessor = [[Mohammad Shafi Qureshi]]<br />
|successor = [[Ram Prakash Gupta]]<br />
|birth_date = {{birth date|1921|10|30|df=y}}<br />
|birth_place = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]]<br />
|death_date = {{death date and age|2016|12|3|1922|10|30|df=y}}<br />
|death_place = [[New Delhi]], India<br />
|spouse = Krishna Kumari<br />
|children = 2 (One : Pratibha Sharma)<br />
|father = [[Bhai Parmanand]]<br />
|alma_mater = [[University of Delhi]]<br />
|party = [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Bhai Mahavir''' (30 October 1922 – 3 December 2016) was an Indian politician who was governor of the Indian state of [[Madhya Pradesh]] between April 1998 and March 2003. He was a [[RSS pracharak|pracharak]] of the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS) and served as a leader of the [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]] and [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]. He has authored many books and had served two terms prior to his governorship as a member of the [[Rajya Sabha]]. He had an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics and studied law (LLB) from the University of Delhi.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rajbhavanmp.and.in/Mahavir.asp |title=Former Governors of Madhya Pradesh |publisher=Raj Bhavan, Bhopal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721162434/http://www.rajbhavanmp.ind.in/mahavir.asp |archive-date=21 July 2011}}</ref><br />
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== Life and career ==<br />
Bhai Mahavir was the son of [[Bhai Parmanand]], a [[Mohyal]] ([[Saraswat Brahmin]]), member of [[Arya Samaj]] and a leader of the [[Hindu Mahasabha]].{{sfn|Bapu|2013}} He grew up with an Arya Samaj background and went to study at the [[Dayanand College|Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College]] in [[Lahore]]. His ancestors were famous martyrs of Sikhism i.e. Bhai Matidas and Bhai Satidas.<ref>{{Cite web|title=देश पर शहीद भाई मती दास-जती दास के वंशज थे डॉ.महावीर|url=https://www.jagran.com/madhya-pradesh/bhopal-mahavir-was-descendants-of-martyre-of-bhai-mati-dasjati-das-15147461.html|access-date=2022-01-26|website=Dainik Jagran|language=hi}}</ref><br />
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Mahavir joined the RSS in 1938, in a ''shakha'' established by Raja Bhau Paturkar in Lahore. He became a [[RSS pracharak|pracharak]] in 1942, and worked in that capacity in [[Jalandhar]] for 2 years. Between 1944 and 1947 he was the Secretary of RSS in Lahore. {{sfn|Jaffrelot|2011|p = 288}} After the [[Partition of India|partition]], 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.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|2011|p = 288}}<br />
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Towards the end of 1950, [[Shyama Prasad Mookerjee]] gathered in Delhi a core group of activists to form a new political party, the future [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]]. 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. {{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|pp = 117-119}}{{sfn|Jaffrelot|2011|p = 289}} 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. {{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|p = 122}}<br />
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Mahavir continued in senior positions in the Jana Sangh and later in [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]. He was elected to the [[Rajya Sabha]] during 1968-74 and 1978–84. In 1998, he was appointed the Governor of [[Madhya Pradesh]] and served a full term till 2003.<br />
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== Personal life ==<br />
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 died at his home in Delhi on 3 December 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=मप्र के पूर्व राज्यपाल भाई महावीर का निधन, शिवराज ने शोक जताया|url=http://www.india.com/hindi-news/india-hindi/former-madhya-pradesh-governor-bhai-mahavir-died-mourned-by-shivraj/|publisher=India.com|access-date=18 January 2017|archive-date=18 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118213117/http://www.india.com/hindi-news/india-hindi/former-madhya-pradesh-governor-bhai-mahavir-died-mourned-by-shivraj/|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
'''Sources'''<br />
{{Refbegin}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Bapu |first=Prabhu |title=Hindu Mahasabha in Colonial North India, 1915-1930: Constructing Nation and History |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-0415671651 }} <br />
* {{cite book |last=Jaffrelot |first=Christophe |authorlink=Christophe Jaffrelot |title=The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |year=1996 |isbn=978-1850653011 }}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Jaffrelot|first=Christophe |authorlink=Christophe Jaffrelot |title=Religion, Caste, and Politics in India|year=2011|publisher=C Hurst & Co|isbn=978-1849041386 }} <br />
{{Refend}}<br />
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{{Governors of Madhya Pradesh}}<br />
{{Bharatiya Janata Party}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahavir, Bhai}}<br />
[[Category:1921 births]]<br />
[[Category:2016 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Politicians from Jhansi]]<br />
[[Category:Arya Samajis]]<br />
[[Category:Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians]]<br />
[[Category:Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Delhi]]<br />
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Delhi]]<br />
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:Governors of Madhya Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks]]<br />
[[Category:Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India)]]<br />
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{{Delhi-BJP-politician-stub}}</div>Neeraj Singh Creator