Yashwantrao Chavan was born on March 12, 1913 in a poor Maratha family.
Following the assembly election results in Maharashtra, the search for a new CM continues. The first Chief Minister of this state was Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan, remembered for many reasons in contemporary history. Congress leader Yashwantrao Chavan became the first Chief Minister after the formation of Maharashtra and was appointed Defense Minister during the war with China. He was also the Defense Minister during the war with Pakistan in 1965. He is also known for presenting a huge deficit budget as the country’s Finance Minister.
On the anniversary of his death, let us know the story of Yashwantrao Chavan, who was close to Pandit Nehru and who voted against Indira Gandhi.
He was born in a poor Maratha family.
Yashwantrao Chavan was born on March 12, 1913 in a poor Maratha family. Then his village was in Satara district of Maharashtra and now it is in Sangli district. Chavan was an active Congress worker from his student days and while studying law, he became the Congress chief of Satara District in the year 1940. Chavan actively participated in the Indian freedom struggle. He was part of Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement and the Quit India movement and went to jail several times. Before the formation of Maharashtra, he became Chief Minister of Bombay and leader of the state Congress in the year 1957. After the formation of the state of Maharashtra in 1960, he became its first Chief Minister.
The opposition itself had presented the proposal praising it
Chavan, close to the country’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, played an important role in the formation of Maharashtra. His role in the struggle for the formation of this State was controversial, but he later played a leading role in the formation of an independent State on the basis of language. Due to this, Maharashtra was formed on May 1, 1960. Chavan was one of those Chief Ministers, for whose praise the opposition itself had moved a resolution in the state assembly, when he was leaving state politics and moving to central politics in the year 1962.
Call to Center after Menon’s resignation
It has been said in media reports that when Maharashtra was formed after a long struggle and soon after Chavan was called into central politics, he had written to Pandit Nehru saying that he had no information about his eligibility to become Defense Minister of India. . However, due to Chavan’s self-confidence, he had to leave his state. At the Centre, Chavan served as Minister of Defence, Home, External Affairs and Finance as well as Deputy Prime Minister. He is best known for his tenure as Defense Minister, for which he was called by Pandit Nehru, especially after the resignation of controversial Defense Minister Krishna Menon.
As finance minister, Chavan is also known for presenting the black budget of 1973-74. This was because that budget showed a deficit of Rs 550 million.
He was not in favor of Indira continuing as prime minister after the cancellation of the elections
In 1975, when the court canceled the election of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, all Congress leaders were adamant on keeping her as Prime Minister. At the same time, it is said that YB Chavan was not in favor of this and voted against Indira Gandhi in the party meeting. It has been said in media reports that Indira Gandhi herself distrusted Chavan, because while he was Home Minister, Chavan had had his phone tapped. Chavan had even advocated becoming Prime Minister and Lal Bahadur Shastri had talked of making him his successor. In such a situation, Indira felt that if Chavan became her successor, she would never be able to be Prime Minister again.
Apart from being a politician, Chavan was also a writer and wrote many books. He formed the Marathi Sahitya Mandal and was associated with a large number of poets and writers. On November 25, 1984, Chavan said goodbye to the world due to a heart attack.
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