Manohar Gajanan Joshi (2 December 1937 – 23 February 2024) was an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra, who served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999, and Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2004. He was one of the prominent leaders of the Shiv Sena, and also one of the Indians to be elected to all of the four legislatures.

Manohar Joshi
12th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
In office
14 March 1995 – 31 January 1999
Preceded bySharad Pawar
Succeeded byNarayan Rane
13th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
In office
10 May 2002 – 2 June 2004
PresidentA. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee (also been a Leader of the House)
Deputy SpeakerP. M. Sayeed
Preceded byG. M. C. Balayogi
Succeeded bySomnath Chatterjee
Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
In office
19 October 1999 – 9 May 2002
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded byChandra Shekhar
Succeeded byAnant Geete
Leader of Shiv Sena
In office
19 June 1966 – 23 February 2024
PresidentBal Thackeray (1966–2012)
Uddhav Thackeray (2012–present)
Leader of the House Legislative Assembly
Maharashtra
In office
14 March 1995 – 31 January 1999
Preceded bySharad Pawar
Succeeded byNarayan Rane
Leader of the Opposition
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
In office
22 March 1990 – 12 December 1991
Preceded byMrinal Gore
Succeeded byGopinath Munde
Mayor of Mumbai
In office
1976–1977
Preceded byMehta
Succeeded byMurli Deora
Member of Parliament, Loksabha
In office
1999–2004
Preceded byRamdas Athawale
Succeeded byEknath Gaikwad
ConstituencyMumbai North Central
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
2006–2012
Preceded byRam Jethmalani
Succeeded byAnil Desai
ConstituencyMaharashtra
Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
In office
1990–1999
Preceded bySharayu Thakur
Succeeded byVishakha Raut
ConstituencyDadar
Member of Maharashtra Legislative Council
In office
1972–1989
ConstituencyNominated
Councillor, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
In office
1968–1972
ConstituencyDadar
Personal details
Born(1937-12-02)2 December 1937
Raigad, Bombay Province, British India
Died23 February 2024(2024-02-23) (aged 86)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Political partyShiv Sena
SpouseAnagha Joshi
Children3
RelativesSharvari Wagh
(granddaughter)

Early life

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Joshi was born on 2 December 1937 in the Marathi-speaking Brahmin family of Gajanan Krishna Joshi and Saraswati Gajanan in Nandavi of Raigad district in Maharashtra.[1][2][3] He received his Masters of Arts and LLB degrees from Mumbai University.[citation needed] He married Anagha Joshi on 14 May 1964, with whom he had a son, Unmesh, and two daughters, Asmita and Namrata.[2][4] His granddaughter, Sharvari Wagh, made her debut as an actress with the 2021 film Bunty Aur Babli 2.[5]

Formation of Kohinoor

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After receiving his MA in law[citation needed] he joined Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as an officer[citation needed], but later started the Kohinoor technical/vocational training institute[citation needed] with the idea of an institute for semi–skilled youths to offer training as electricians, plumbers, TV/radio/scooter repairmen and photographers[citation needed]. Eventually, he started multiple branches of Kohinoor in Mumbai[citation needed], Pune,[citation needed] Nagpur[citation needed], Nashik[citation needed], etc., and later he made an entry into construction and another capital-oriented business.[citation needed]

Manohar Joshi also founded the Kohinoor Business School[citation needed] & Kohinoor-IMI School of Hospitality Management[citation needed] in Khandala, Maharashtra. Later on he took Chancellorship of Dnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth.[6]

Political career

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Early years

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Joshi began his career by being elected as a municipal councillor in Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1968 from the Shiv Sena.[7]

In 1972 Joshi was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council,[7] where he served three terms until 1989.[citation needed] He became the Mayor of Mumbai during 1976 to 1977.[citation needed] He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from a Shiv Sena ticket in 1990.[8]

 
Joshi with former BCCI vice-president Dnyaneshwar Agashe.

Chief Minister

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Joshi became the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Maharashtra when the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition came to power in 1995.[9] Technically, Sharad Pawar led the first non-Congress government in Maharashtra in 1978[citation needed] as a member of Socialist Indian National Congress.[citation needed]

Controversy and resignation

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Joshi and Bal Thackeray were explicitly named for inciting the Shivsainiks to violence against Muslims during the 1992–1993 riots[citation needed] in an inquiry ordered by the government of India, the Srikrishna Commission Report.[citation needed] However, Joshi, then a part of the BJP-Sena government called the report "anti-Hindu, pro-Muslim and biased" and refused to adopt the commission's recommendations.[10][11]

As Chief Minister, he had permitted the release of a plot of land in Pune, reserved for a school, to a builder with ties to his son-in-law, Girish Vyas.[12] A housing complex, named Sundew, was built on that land by Vyas in 1998. Sustained legal efforts by Vijay Kumbhar, an RTI activist from Pune,[13] led to Joshi's resignation in January 1999. In March 2009, Bombay High Court passed a verdict calling the housing complex illegal.[14] The Supreme Court of India upheld the verdict in 2011 and fined Joshi Rs 15,000.[citation needed] Following its order, the building is now being used for a school.[15]

Lok Sabha and Speaker

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Joshi was promoted to the Lok Sabha when he won in Central Mumbai in the 1999 General Elections.[16] He was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2004 during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) administration.[16]

Joshi was elected for a six-year term to the Rajya Sabha on 20 March 2006[17] after being defeated in the previous Lok Sabha election in the Central Mumbai constituency.[citation needed]

National Legislator Conference

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In September 2022, Manohar Joshi was appointed a key patron of NLC Bharat.[18]

Death

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Manohar Joshi died in Mumbai on 23 February 2024, at the age of 86.[citation needed] He had suffered a cardiac arrest a day earlier and been placed in Hinduja hospital's intensive care unit[citation needed], dying the next day of age-related health complications.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Suddenly after three years I have become bad because I am a Brahmin". India Today. 29 March 2013. Archived from the original on 12 November 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Members Profile - Joshi, Shri Manohar". loksabhaph.nic.in. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  3. ^ Joshi, Manohar (18 November 2012). "Balasaheb Thackeray stood behind his men like a mountain". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  4. ^ "अनघा मनोहर जोशी यांचे अल्पशा आजाराने निधन". TV9 Marathi (in Marathi). 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Did you know Bunty Aur Babli actress is Manohar Joshi's granddaughter?". Mid Day. 19 December 2019. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  6. ^ Marpakwar, Chaitanya (23 February 2024). "Manohar Joshi passes away: His journey from being a corporator to Maharashtra CM to Lok Sabha speaker". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Manohar Joshi, former Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena veteran, passes away". The Indian Express. 23 February 2024. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Former Speakers". Office of the Speaker of Lok Sabha, New Delhi. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  9. ^ Ananth, Venkat (28 October 2014). "A brief history of Maharashtra's chief ministers". mint. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  10. ^ "The Shiv Sena indicted". Frontlineonnet.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013. The Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party Government in Maharashtra has rejected the core of the report, which was presented before the two Houses of the legislature on August 6 along with a memorandum of action to be taken thereon. The Action Taken Report (ATR), seeks to establish that the report is one-sided. Going further, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi termed the report "anti-Hindu, pro-Muslim and biased."
  11. ^ Smita Narula (1999). Broken People: Caste Violence Against India's "untouchables". Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1564322289. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2018. The reports findings were presented to the government of Maharashtra on February 16, 1998, more than five years after the riots took place. The report determined that the riots were the result of a deliberate and systematic effort to incite violence against Muslims and singled out Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray and Chief Minister Manohar Joshi as responsible. The Shiv Sena-BJP government, however, refused to adopt the commission's recommendations and instead labeled the report anti-Hindu.
  12. ^ "Hand over Sundew Apartment or let PMC raze it: SC to Vyas Construction - Indian Express". Indian Express. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Victory for RTI activist in battle against former CM's son-in-law". mid-day. 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Pune land controversy back to haunt Shiv Sena". Hindustan Times. 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  15. ^ "Civic body starts school at Sundew apartments". The Times of India. 1 October 2013. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Manohar Joshi: From Mayor to First Non-Congress Maharashtra Chief Minister". ETV Bharat. 23 February 2024. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Arjun, Bhardwaj, Shinde elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha". Tribuneindia.com. 20 March 2006. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Ex-LS Speakers hold round table discussion to promote PM's mantra to "reform, perform and transform"". ANI News. 8 November 2022. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  19. ^ "Former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi dies of cardiac arrest". The Times of India. 23 February 2024. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
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Lok Sabha
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Mumbai North Central

1999–2004
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Chief Minister of Maharashtra
14 March 1995 – 31 January 1999
Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of Lok Sabha
2002–2004
Succeeded by