History News Desk !!! Madhav Shrihari Aney (English: Madhav Shrihari Aney, born- 29 August, 1880, Maharashtra; died: 26 January, 1968) was one of the freedom fighters who fought for India’s independence. His father was a learned person. Madhav Shrihari Aney was highly influenced by Lokmanya Tilak. He was also a member of the ‘Indian National Congress’ for some time. He also served jail sentence during Gandhiji’s ‘Salt Satyagraha’. He was also the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka from 1943 to 1947. After gaining independence, he was also made the Governor of Bihar.
Madhav Shrihari Ane, popularly known as ‘Bapuji Ane’ or ‘Loknayak Ane’ due to his respect among people, was born on 29 August, 1880 in a place called Vani in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. His learned father Shrihari Ane paid proper attention to the education of his son. Bapuji Ane received higher education from ‘Kolkata University’ and also continued teaching from 1904 to 1907. Then he started practicing law in Yavatmal.
Lokmanya Tilak’s ‘Maratha’ and ‘Kesari’ newspapers also had a great influence on the young Aane. When Tilak was released from jail in 1914, Aane was among the first to meet him. Due to Tilak’s influence, he started participating in politics. He was elected the president of the Congress of his district. When the ‘Home Rule League’ was established, Aane was also among its vice-presidents. From 1921 to 1930, he presided over the Vidarbha Pradesh Congress Committee. He was also a member of the executive of the ‘Indian National Congress’ for a few years. He was elected a member of the Central Assembly on behalf of the ‘Swaraj Party’ and became the minister of his party there. He also visited jail during the ‘Salt Satyagraha’.
After some time, due to the pro-Muslim policy of the Congress, Madhav Shrihari Aney and Mahamana Malviyaji started having differences with that organization. Together they formed a new party called ‘Congress Nationalist Party’. In 1941, the Viceroy had nominated Aney as a member of his executive, but in 1943 when Gandhiji started a hunger strike in Aga Khan Palace and the government was not ready to bow down, Aney resigned from the Viceroy’s executive in protest. From August 1943 to July 1947, he was the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. After independence, he was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly, but soon he had to take over as the Governor of Bihar. He remained the Governor till 1952 and was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1959 to 1967.
Despite differences in opinion, Gandhiji and Ane shared a very cordial relationship. He considered Malviyaji to be a divine person. He was associated with many educational and cultural institutions. He was the president of the ‘Vedic Shodhak Mandal’ of Pune. Theist Shrimadhav Shrihari Ane had a daily routine of doing Sandhyavandan and reading the chapters of Bhagwat. He has written the biography of Lokmanya Tilak in Sanskrit in 12 thousand verses.
In recognition of Madhav Shrihari Ane’s long-term service, the President awarded him the honorary title of ‘Padma Vibhushan’.
On January 26, 1968, Shri Aney passed away and this lamp that illuminated the land of India was extinguished forever.
