History News Desk !!! Banarsi Das Gupta (English: Banarsi Das Gupta; Born- 5 November, 1917, Haryana; Died- 29 August, 2007) was the former Chief Minister of Haryana state. Being a freedom fighter, he lived social, political and public life in his own style. Banarsi Das Gupta was a supporter of English language and a realistic ideal leader. He made a valuable contribution to the progress of Haryana by strengthening national unity and integrity.
Banarasi Das Gupta was born on 5 November, 1917 in a place called Bhiwani in Haryana. He received his education at ‘Birla College’, Pilani. Under the influence of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, he started participating in the Praja Mandal movement to oppose the oppressive policy of the princely states. Seeing the activities of Banarasi Das Gupta ji, he was arrested in Jind state in 1941 and imprisoned in Faridkot jail. Banarasi Das Gupta also participated in the ‘Quit India Movement’ and remained imprisoned from 1942 to 1944.[2]
Immediately after independence, Banarasi Das started a movement to include Jind in India and formed a parallel government there. This movement ended only after the then Home Minister Sardar Patel agreed to include Jind in Punjab.
He was elected from Bhiwani Vidhan Sabha constituency in the mid-term elections of 1968. He again became MLA in 1972 and was unanimously elected as the Speaker of Vidhan Sabha. Gupta Ji was the minister of various departments like electricity and irrigation, agriculture, health etc. He was made the Chief Minister of Haryana in 1975. He again became MLA from Bhiwani in 1987 and was elected Deputy Chief Minister. He was once again the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana in 1989. In September 1990, there was a murderous attack on him. In 1996, he was elected to Rajya Sabha.
Many religious institutions were established by Narsi Das Ji. He was a staunch opponent of untouchability. As a result of your love for yoga and nature, a natural hospital was established in Bhiwani. With your cooperation, many educational institutions came into existence in Bhiwani. Apart from being a public leader, social worker and educationist, you also had a form as a journalist, which very few people know. For many years, you were the editor of the weekly ‘Apna Desh’, ‘Haryana Kesari’ and ‘Haryana Congress Patrika’. You wrote a book by the name of ‘Panchayati Raj – Why and How’, which became very popular. You were also associated with various literary institutions. Under your chairmanship, ‘Haryana Pradesh Sahitya Samiti’ did many notable works.
