Our city – Udaipur is completely filled with beauty in and out. And this beauty is not reflected in just its history, culture and its places, but also in its people. There are some gem of the people belonging from Udaipur who, with their hard work and success, have not just made the city but the entire nation proud.
But sadly, with time we tend to forget the accomplishment of such people of the city. The series ‘People from Udaipur you should know about’ tends to glorify the journey of these famous and triumphant people from Udaipur who have become an epitome of success in their lives.
Bhanu Kumar Shastri
Bhanu Kumar Shastri was the founding member of Bhartiya Jana Sangh and a Member of Parliament from Udaipur in the year 1977. He was also the chairman of the Khadi Board and at this time he was one of the oldest leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Bhanu Kumar Shastri was one of the remains of the last generation of the Bhartiya Jana Sangh, who was also senior to people like LK Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Shastri was born on October 29, 1925, in the Sindh region of Hyderabad (now in Pakistan) to a famous astrologer, Pt. Giridhar Lal Sharma. After the tragedy of the Indo-Pak partition, he came to Udaipur and decided to dedicate his life working here. He has been an important contributor in the politics of the Mewar region. Shastri is considered as a leader with a simple life and high thinking ability. Living with this simplicity throughout his life, he became a synonym of sanctity and also worked for education and political awareness in the tribal area.
His political career has been vast. He has been the President of the corporation and boards along with the rank of former MP and Cabinet minister. In his long journey of the Jan Sangh from being a volunteer to being in the parliament, he got the opportunity of discussion and co-operation on various aspects with heroes like Pandit Deendayal, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Jagannathrao Joshi, Sundarsinh Bhandari, Golwalkar (Guruji), Bal Thackeray, Deoras, Eknath Ranade and Madhavrao Mulle.
Bhanu contested against the then Chief Minister Mohanlal Sukhdiya in the 1967 assembly elections. After the election, he filed a petition in the High Court. On receiving a verdict against him from the high court, he approached the Supreme Court. After becoming a Sangh volunteer in 1942, he became the founding member of the Jana Sangh in 1951.
Shastri spent 40 months of his life in jail. During this time, he came to parole for his sister’s wedding and went back to jail immediately. From being the councilor of Udaipur’s City Corporation to Deputy Chairman, from MLA to MP, nobody could ever question Shastri’s honest and ideological life. During the time of emergency which began from 25 June 1975, he was the state president of the Jan Sangh. He died on 24th February 2018 due to long period of illness leaving behind his footprints of a simple yet strong life.
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