Balwantrai Gopalji Mehta (English: Balwantrai Gopalji Mehta, born- 19 February 1900; died- 19 September 1965) was an Indian politician and the second Chief Minister of Gujarat. He also participated in the Indian Independence Movement. He is considered the architect of Panchayati Raj for his contribution towards democratic decentralization.
Balwantrai Mehta was born on 19 February 1900 in Bhavnagar in a middle class family. He studied till B.A. He completed his graduation in 1920. When the results came, he had passed in every subject. He refused to take the degree given by the British government. He was just 20 years old at that time. After leaving college, he joined Lala Lajpat Rai’s organization ‘Servant of People’. ‘Servant of India’ was a non-political organization. Lala ji had formed this organization for social service apart from Congress. Balwantrai Mehta remained its member for a long time and was also elected its president twice.
1921 was the year when Balwantrai Mehta’s political journey began. In 1921, he founded ‘Bhavnagar Prajamandal’. At that time, Bhavnagar was a princely state. The British did not have direct control over it. It was ruled by Guhil king Krishnakumar Singh. At the age of just 21, Balwantrai had started taking a stand against feudal rule. In 1928, Satyagraha started in Bardoli of Surat under the leadership of Gandhiji and Sardar Patel. Balwantrai emerged as an important member of this Satyagraha. He was in jail during the non-cooperation movement that lasted from 1930 to 1932. He was again put in jail during the Quit India Movement of 1942. He remained in jail for about seven years before independence.[1]
After independence, on Gandhiji’s advice, Balwantrai Mehta became a member of the Congress Working Committee. In 1952, the first elections were held in the country. At that time, Bhavnagar was known as Gohilwad because of the Gohil kings. Balwantrai contested the elections from here on a Congress ticket. His opponent was independent candidate Krishnalal. Balwantrai Mehta became an honorable MP by winning 80256 votes. The second Lok Sabha elections were held in 1957. Balwantrai contested from Gohilwad (Bhavnagar). His opponent was Jaswant Bhai Mehta of Praja Socialist Party. Balwantrai won the elections easily by winning 82582 votes. Jaswant Bhai Mehta, on the other hand, could only win 62958 votes.
Gandhiji had drawn a blueprint of ‘Swaraj’ in which every village had to work as an independent unit. He wanted every village to be so self-sufficient that it could run its own government. Therefore, it was necessary for every village and village panchayat to be strong. After the second Lok Sabha elections in 1957, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru took the initiative in this direction. Actually, in January 1957, a committee was formed to examine the community development programs. This committee was headed by Balwantrai Mehta. In November 1957, this committee submitted its recommendations. The complete blueprint of three-tier Panchayati Raj was put forward.
On 1 April 1958, the Parliament passed the recommendations of the ‘Balwant Rai Mehta Committee’ and implemented them. On 2 October 1959, Pandit Nehru formally launched Panchayati Raj in India from Nagaur district of Rajasthan. But Andhra Pradesh became the first state to fully implement these recommendations. Panchayati Raj institutions in India had to wait a long time to get constitutional status. Panchayati Raj was given constitutional status by the 73rd amendment in 1993. Their regular elections were ensured, but no changes were made in the three-tier Panchayati Raj structure suggested by the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee. These three levels are – Gram Panchayat at the village level, Panchayat Samiti at the block level and Zila Panchayat at the district level. In this way, even today the structure given by Balwant Rai Mehta continues as it is.
The Kamaraj Plan that came on 24 August 1963 sacrificed many big leaders of the Congress. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Chandra Bhanu Gupta was from the anti-Nehru camp. Under the Kamaraj Plan, Pandit Nehru took resignation from Chandra Bhanu Gupta in August 1963. Morarji Desai was very much against this resignation. He first tried to convince Nehru. When Nehru did not agree, he insisted on the resignation of Jivraaj Mehta under the same plan. Gujarat was Morarji’s home state. Jivraaj Mehta became the first Chief Minister of the state on Nehru’s recommendation against Morarji’s wishes. Jivraaj Mehta had to resign from his post due to Morarji’s pressure. Morarji had suggested the name of Balwantrai Mehta earlier too, but he did not have much influence in front of Nehru. On this occasion, he got the man of his choice to the seat of Chief Minister of Gujarat. In September 1963, Balwantrai Mehta became the second Chief Minister of the state.
On 19 September 1965, during the Indo-Pak war, Balwantrai Mehta was travelling from Mithapur to Kutch. On the way, the Pakistani Air Force attacked his plane, in which Mehta ji, along with his wife, three activists, a journalist and two pilots died.
