Ghanshyambhai Oza (English: Ghanshyambhai Oza, born- October 25, 1911; died- July 12, 2002, Ahmedabad) was an Indian National Congress politician and the former fourth Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from March 17, 1972 to July 17, 1973.
Ghanshyam Ojha’s father Chhotalal Ojha, born on October 25, 1911, used to be a big lawyer of Bhavnagar. Ghanshyam also joined them after studying law. Sardar Patel had come to Bhavnagar in the year 1941. Sardar Patel and Chhotalal used to have close relations. In such a situation, he went to meet the Ojha family at their house. Here Sardar Patel told Ghanshyam Ojha that- “An educated youth like him must definitely take part in the freedom movement of the country.” After this he turned to Ghanshyam’s father and said – “Chhota Bhai, please give me this boy.” Chhotalal Ojha accepted this proposal. This is how Ghanshyam Ojha’s journey as a political activist began.[1]
post of Minister of State
After independence, Ghanshyam Ojha was elected MP continuously from 1957 to 1967. The 1971 Lok Sabha elections proved to be a huge leap in his political career. Famous socialist leader Meenu Masani was Ghanshyam Ojha’s opponent in the 1971 elections. Masani was contesting elections from Rajkot on Swatantra Party ticket. Ghanshyam Ojha defeated Masani badly in this match. While Ojha had 1 lakh 42 thousand 481 votes in his account, Masani could reach only 75002 votes. This victory elevated Ojha in the eyes of the Congress high command and especially Indira Gandhi. Ojha got a place in the Union Cabinet and was made the Minister of State for Industry.
MP
It is said about Ghanshyam Ojha that he was of very simple nature. Perhaps this was the reason why Indira Gandhi chose Ghanshyam Ojha for the post of Chief Minister instead of Chimanbhai Patel. He was a leader from the freedom movement. A staunch follower of Gandhiji. Born in 1911 in Bhavnagar, Saurashtra, Ghanshyam Bhai Ojha’s father used to be a lawyer. He first studied BA and later law from Bombay. During the Quit India Movement of 1942, he was inclined towards Congress. During this time he also had to go to jail. After independence, Ghanshyam Ojha was elected member of the Saurashtra Legislative Assembly from 1948 to 1956. In 1957, he reached Parliament on Congress ticket from Jalawad seat of Bombay Presidency. In the 1962 elections, he became MP from Surendranagar Lok Sabha seat.
collapsing organization
Politics of upheaval was not in Ghanshyam Ojha’s mood. Here Chimanbhai Patel was upset with himself being ignored. They had started barricading against Ojha from the very first day. It is said about Ghanshyam Ojha that when he reached Gujarat as the Chief Minister, he recognized only six MLAs in the MLA. His hold on the organization was very weak. Due to this, internal politics started gaining momentum in the Congress organization. Rattu Bhai Adani used to be the President of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee at that time. As soon as his term ended at the end of 1972, the campaign for a new president intensified. The Congress organization got divided into two camps in the election of the new president.
The first camp was that of Chimanbhai Patel and Kantilal Ghiya. The second group was formed by Rattubhai Adani and Jinabhai Darji. On 21 December 1972, the election for the post of President of State Congress Committee was held. Jinabhai Darji was the candidate from Rattubhai’s camp in this election. Krishnakant Vakharia was involved in this race on behalf of Chimanbhai Patel. This election went in favor of Jinabhai Darji. Shortly after winning the elections, another struggle began between Rattubhai Adani and Jinabhai Darji to maintain control over the Congress organization. During this period, Ghanshyam Ojha kept changing his stance. In such a situation, he failed to establish his permanent base within the organization.[1]
political coup
On one hand, Jinabhai Darji was openly fighting against Rattubhai Adani and on the other hand, he was in a pitched battle against Chimanbhai Patel. To maintain the balance of power, he started getting closer to Ghanshyam Ojha. In the month of December 1972, Jinabhai succeeded in convincing Darji Ojha that as long as Chimanbhai Patel was in Congress, there would be a constant threat to his position. At the behest of Jinabhai, without thinking, Ghanshyam Ojha snatched the Industry Ministry from Chimanbhai Patel and showed him the way out of the cabinet. This later proved to be his biggest political mistake. Panchavati Farmhouse is a place near Gandhinagar on Ahmedabad-Vadodara Highway. Local journalists had named it ‘Prapanchavati’.
The day was 27 June 1973. People had started gathering here since morning. Apart from the MLAs of the ruling party, many big industrialists of Gujarat were also present in it. After the round of meetings continued till evening, a no-confidence motion was written against Ghanshyam Ojha. Below this, apart from Chimanbhai Patel, there were signatures of 69 other MLAs. In this way, Ghanshyam Ojha’s government came into minority in the 168-seat assembly due to the rebellion of its own MLAs. At that time there was also a rumor that Chimanbhai Patel had done horse-trading of MLAs on the basis of money. Ghanshyam Ojha, who was sitting on the Chief Minister’s chair after a huge majority mandate, was in minority after just 16 months. When Ojha got the news of this rebellion, he understood that now his departure was almost certain. In such a situation, he made the last move to save himself. Instead of submitting his resignation to the Governor, he kept his resignation in his pocket and headed for Delhi. He hoped that Indira Gandhi would rescue him from this crisis, but the opposite happened. Indira was aware of the political situation in Gujarat. He accepted the resignation of Ghanshyam Ojha without showing any sympathy.[1]
Janata Party membership
Emergency was imposed on 25 June 1975. The entire opposition was in jail. Later, Lal Krishna Advani, remembering the role of the press during the Emergency, said that – “During the Emergency, the Indian press was asked to sit on its knees and it lay down on the ground.” The atmosphere of fear within the Congress was more than that of the opposition. In such a period, Ghanshyam Ojha opened a front against Indira Gandhi. He was openly opposing the Emergency and Indira. He resigned from the membership of Congress in protest against Indira. In response, he was placed under house arrest. After the emergency was lifted, Ghanshyam Ojha took membership of the Janata Party led by Morarji Desai. In 1978, he was sent to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat.
death
After completion of his Rajya Sabha tenure in 1984, Ghanshyam Ojha distanced himself from politics. He departed from this world on July 12, 2002.
