when the swearing-in was about to take place
Assembly elections were held in Delhi in 1951. Congress won 46 out of 48 seats. At that time Deshbandhu Gupta was recognized as a strong leader in Delhi. It was decided that the first CM of Delhi would be made there. Indirectly, his name as the first Chief Minister of Delhi was finally sealed. His swearing-in was absolutely decided but something else was acceptable to Honi. Deshbandhu Gupta died in a plane crash on 21 November 1951. After this, Jawaharlal Nehru proposed the name of Chaudhary Brahm Prakash for the post of CM.
Delhi became deserted
When Deshbandhu Gupta died in a plane crash while going to Kolkata. After his death, the Delhi Congress had suffered a major setback. On one hand Congress was preparing to form the government. At the same time, the departure of its main contender for the post of CM was an untimely blow to the party. It can be understood that on the death of Deshbandhu Gupta, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said that ‘Today Delhi has become deserted’. It meant that Delhi lost its soul today.
The fight for Delhi’s assembly status
He strongly advocated giving the status of assembly to Delhi. After several members had spoken on the subject, Deshbandhu Gupta moved a motion. After this, a seven-member committee was formed under the chairmanship of Pattabhi Sitaramayya. The committee was to submit the report after considering the matter of granting the status of assembly to Delhi. Deshbandhu Gupta, an aspiring politician from Delhi, was also made a member of the committee. The committee worked with remarkable speed. After holding only three meetings and in less than three months, the committee submitted its report to the President Dr. Rajendra Prasad on October 21, 1947. Delhi was made a state under the Part ‘C’ Status Act, 1951. With this, Delhi got its own assembly.
Swami Shraddhanand gave the title of Deshbandhu
Deshbandhu Gupta was born on 14 June 1901 in Panipat, Haryana. His name was Ratirat Gupta. His father Shadi Ram was a Vedic scholar. Apart from this, he also used to write poetry in Urdu. He did his early studies from Arya Vedic High School, Ambala and then from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. Ratiram Gupta was also a member of Arya Samaj. Influenced by Lokmanya Tilak, he joined the freedom struggle. Later he became active in the freedom movement and came in contact with Mahatma Gandhi along with Swami Shraddhanand. Both these people gave Ratirat Gupta the title of Deshbandhu. Since then, this name became his identity throughout his political life.
British government banned him from giving speech
Deshbandhu Gupta was among those who advocated the separation of Haryana from Punjab. After joining the Indian National Congress, Gupta soon became close to the party’s top leadership including Lala Lajpat Rai, Mahatma Gandhi. Once he gave a strong speech against the British rule in a meeting in Delhi. This speech had a great impact on the public. Soon after this the British Government banned him from giving any speech in Delhi. Consequently, Lala Lajpat Rai entrusted him with the task of forming Congress committees in Karnal. Elections were held after the enactment of the Government of India Act in 1935. In this election held in 1937, Deshbandhu Gupta and Pandit Shriram Sharma won as Congress candidates from Punjab province. After his tenure in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, he became active in Delhi politics. Later he also became an MP from Delhi.
were in favor of a free press
Lala Lajpat Rai made Ratiram Gupta the editor of his newspaper Vande Mataram. During the freedom struggle itself, Deshbandhu Gupta along with Arya Samaj missionary Swami Shraddhanand started the newspaper ‘Rojana Tej’. After the death of Swami Shraddhanand in 1926, its complete control came in the hands of Deshbandhu Gupta. After some time he met the famous journalist Ramnath Goenka. Together they started the Indian News Chronicle newspaper. After the death of Deshbandhu Gupta, its name was changed to Indian Express.
Remembering Deshbandhu in Delhi
A road in Karol Bagh in Delhi is named after Deshbandhu Gupta. Apart from this, Deshbandhu College is also named after Deshbandhu Gupta. In the year 2010, the postal department also issued a postal stamp in his name.
Source: navbharattimes.indiatimes.com
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