| |
“He was a low-profile RSS pracharak”
The New Indian Express, June 23, 2005
New
Delhi: Sunder Singh Bhandari, a low-profile leader of BJP, began as an RSS ‘pracharak’ to become the Governor twice in career spanning about 67 years.
Bhandari, who died here on Wednesday as a bachelor at the age of 84 years, was one of the founder members of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and BJP.
Born on April 12, 1921 in Udaipur, Rajasthan, he did his masters in economics from Kanpur in 1942, a year after graduating in law from the same place.
He practiced law for about a year in Mewar High Court in Udaipur before becoming headmaster of Shiksha Bhawan there. He held the post for three years from 1943 and left it to devote full time to RSS.
He got associated with RSS at the early age of 17. In RSS, he held the position of divisional ‘pracharak’ (proponent) of the Rajasthan unit between 1946 and 1951. Subsequently he shifted to Bharatiya Jana Sangh and became its general secretary, a post he held for six years from 1951.
Bhandari’s tryst with Parliament began in 1966 when he was elected as a member of Rajya Sabha. He was again elected to the upper house in 1976 and 1992. He was leader of Jana Sangh in Rajya Sabha for a year from 1967, deputy leader of Janata parliamentary party from 1977 to 1980 and deputy leader of BJP parliamentary party from 1980-1982.
Immediately after the BJP-led NDA came to power at the Centre in 1998, Bhandari was appointed Governor of Bihar. From Bihar, Bhandari was shifted as Governor of Gujarat in 1999 and remained there till May, 2003.
Bhandari’s tenure saw the nearly two-month-long riots in March 2002 in the aftermath of Godhra train carnage.
Even as Modi came under all-round attack over his alleged inaction in the riots, Bhandari’s role also did not escape criticism.
He, however, recently broke his silence over the riots. Dropping a bombshell, he compared the riots with the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and accused Modi of taking the violence “lightly.”
Home
Page
|
|
