Ram Kishore Shukla

Ram Kishore Shukla
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh[1][2]
In office 19 July 1983[1] – 13 March 1985[2]
Preceded by	Yagya Datt Sharma[3]
Succeeded by	Rajendra Prasad Shukla[3]
Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh[1]
In office 16 September 1980[1] – 4 March 1984[1]
Preceded by	Ram Chandra Maheshwari[1]
Succeeded by	Pyarelal Kanwar[1]
In office 26 February 1968[1] – 16 March 1972[1]
Preceded by	Narmada Prasad Shrivastava[1]
Succeeded by	Narayan Prasad Shukla[1]
Leader of the Opposition of the Legislative Assembly of Vindhya Pradesh[4]
In office 21 March 1952 – 31 October 1956
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Minister of Finance of Madhya Pradesh[6][7]
In office 14 March 1985[5] – 13 February 1988[8]
Preceded by	Arjun Singh[9]
Succeeded by	Shiv Bhanu Solanki[10]
Minister of Law and Legislative Affairs of Madhya Pradesh[6][7]
In office 14 March 1985[5] – 13 February 1988[8]
Preceded by	Krishna Pal Singh[11]
Succeeded by	Arjun Singh[10]
Minister of Separate Revenue of Madhya Pradesh[6][7]
In office 14 March 1985[5] – 13 February 1988[8]
Preceded by	Bisahu Ram Yadav[12]
Succeeded by	Kamla Devi[10]
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of Madhya Pradesh[6][7]
In office 14 March 1985[5] – 13 February 1988[8]
Preceded by	Krishna Pal Singh[11]
Succeeded by	Arjun Singh[10]
Personal details
Born	(1923-09-04)4 September 1923 Beohari, Central Provinces and Berar, British India
Died	11 December 2003(2003-12-11) (aged 80) Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India
Resting place	24°01′41″N 81°21′34″E / 24.0281507°N 81.3595721°E / 24.0281507; 81.3595721
Citizenship	India
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Other political affiliations	Socialist party
Spouse(s)	Kalavati Shukla
Children	Banmali Prasad Shukla, Vindhyeshwari Prasad Shukla, Santosh Kumar Shukla, Vinod Kumar Shukla, Surendra Shukla, Kavita Shukla and Anita Shukla
Residence	Kishore Kala Mandir
Alma mater	Darbar College, Rewa
Occupation	Politics
Profession	Lecturer Lawyer Social worker
Portfolio	Finance, Law & Legislative, Separate Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs
Website	Pandit Ram Kishore Shukla

Pandit Ram Kishore Shukla (Pronounced [ˈraːm kɪˈʃoːr ˈʃʊkla]; Rām Kiśōr Śukla) (4 September 1923 – 11 December 2003) was an Indian politician^[3] and an activist for Indian independence.^[13]

He represented Socialist Party^[14][15][16] and the Indian National Congress as an M.L.A^[17] in the legislative assembly of the state of Madhya Pradesh from Beohari constituency,^[18][19][20] where he served as speaker,^{[1][21][22][23]} deputy speaker,^{[1][24][25][26]} whereas in cabinet he served as minister of finance,^{[27][28][29][30]} minister of law & legislative,^{[29][30][31][32]} minister of separate revenue,^[29][31][33] and minister of parliamentary affairs^[30][32][34] in government of Madhya Pradesh to government of India. Presided various house committees of legislative assembly of Madhya Pradesh, in several five-year plans.^[4] First to express his views to start live telecast of meetings of parliament of India & legislative assemblies of republic of India on doordarshan in Commonwealth Parliamentary Association convention in England. During his tenure as cabinet minister for law he started lok adalat sittings in Madhya Pradesh & thereafter received personal appreciations from Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati for the same. He was widely travelled, having visited Soviet Union, England, Japan, United States of America, Kenya, several other republics of Africa, Italy, Germany, Isle of Man etc. to participate in Commonwealth & other similar events.^[35][36] He remained a name for his region because of his political ideologies and principles not only during the Indian independence movement but even after that for more than half of a century until 2003.^[37]

Fight for Freedom and education[]

Shukla in 1939.

Shukla, whose ancestors were farmers, held a radical view against the British. He was always willing to be a part of moves of congress against the feudalistic English government. Although, on the backdrop of the Russian revolution, he found his thought process very compatible to the philosophy of socialism^[13] after he caught his conscience,^[37] so only he stood and won very first election of 1951 under the banner of socialist party.^[14] After passing high school, he indulged himself in quit India movement on gandhi's call for immediate independence with passive resistance and went to attend the mass meeting held at gowalia tank maidan in Bombay, where Do or Die was coined by gandhi. His higher secondary education was aided by the award of a scholarship in 1942 for his high school examination results. After a period of two years of working, he took a B.A. political science on the basis of a scholarship from Rewa. Shukla was employed as a teacher at Martand Higher Secondary School in Rewa after his graduation. He subsequently gained a Bachelor of Laws and started legal practice in 1950.

Political timeline[]

Shukla with Rajiv Gandhi at 7, Race course road in 1988

Vindhya Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh[]

In 1950, Shukla was elected as president of the local gram panchayat and nyaya panchayat in Vindhya Pradesh.^[38] He was a keen observer of Cooperative movement in India that is why after freedom he was elected as president of rural cooperative committee of Beohari, marketing co-operative committee, central co-operative banks of Rewa and Shahdol districts, also kept himself indulged in conservation of cooperative institutes.^[39] He was initially an exponent of socialism, often counted in the establishment of socialist party in his region, he won beohari constituency seat in the very first general elections of Vindhya Pradesh in 1951 from socialist party only.^[14] Although Indian National Congress was in majority, he was one of the 11 who were in Legislative Assembly of Vindhya Pradesh from Socialist Party, the main opposition party.^[40] Shukla was unanimously elected the Leader of the Opposition of the Legislative Assembly of Vindhya Pradesh.^[4] The undivided Madhya Pradesh was founded on 1 November 1956 he won 1957 general elections as an independent candidate.^[15] Although, upon the requisition by Jawaharlal Nehru that all people of socialist cerebration should join Indian National Congress for effective establishment of socialistic society he joined congress party, under which he won the general elections of 1962, 1967, 1980, 1985 and 1993.^{[16][17][18][19][20]} He remained representative of Beohari Vidhan Sabha constituency for a total of seven times, he was one of the few who scored hat-trick in assembly elections from his region.^[41] He was known to be a sharp speaker and prime apprehender of parliamentary system.^[42]

Shukla with Dr. Balram Jakhar and Queen Mother Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in 1984

Speaker-ship and Ministerial Tenure[]

He served as a deputy speaker of the assembly for two times in 1968–1972 and 1980–1984.^[43] After the resignation of Yagya Datt Sharma in July 1983 who was speaker then,^[44] he took charge of executing Speaker and represented in Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conventions of Kenya, Italy, Germany in and after September 1983. In March 1984,^[43] he was unanimously elected speaker of the State Assembly, then again was called to represent in Common Wealth Parliamentary Association and similar conventions of Isle of Man, England, United States, Japan and Soviet Union.^[35] He was the first person to express his views to start live telecast of meetings of Parliament of India & Legislative Assemblies of Indian states on doordarshan in Commonwealth Parliamentary Association convention in England, so that the peoples of the constituencies can see the official workings of assemblies and Parliament and representatives will also take care of their performance before them.^[35] At times when he did not represent his constituency he presided more than five house committees of Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh, in several five-year plans, whereas during his seven time spell as a legislator^{[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]} the departments held by him as a cabinet minister were, Minister of Finance,^{[28][45][46][47]} Minister of Separate Revenue,^[29][31][33] Minister of Law and Legislative^{[29][30][31][32]} and minister of Parliamentary Affairs.^[30][32][34] During the first monsoon session of him as finance minister and immediate one after Bhopal disaster, he presented his first budget with significant deficit to accommodate humanitarian and rehabilitation funds for Gas tragedy victims.^[48]

Shukla with Dr. Balram Jakhar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other members of Indian & foreign delegations along with Queen Mother Elizabeth seated at front after 30th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference at The Isle of Man in October 1984

Regional participation[]

Believing that education as the key to improving the lot of his primarily rural constituency, Shukla supported the educational establishments in the area. He was a member of the secondary education board and court of Dr. Hari Singh Gour University and established the Arts & Commerce College in Beohari which was later named after him.^[49][50] He was also, at various times, president of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association of Madhya Pradesh, Shahdol Central Cooperative Bank and Bar Association and deputy president of the directorial board of Shahdol Law College.^[51]

Controversies[]

1984 controversial promotion[]

In 1984, he promoted one officer of state legislature as special secretary and within hours the same officer was promoted to the post of secretary, this was done by virtue of the extraordinary powers vested in him as Speaker, this promotion being first of its kind in history was not appreciated by anyone.^[3]

1987 circus shootout[]

In 1987, during his tenure as minister three people were shot in a public gunfire at a circus in Beohari. Shukla's sons were connected in the case.^[52] Circus was being run in front of police station in Beohari.^[52][53] First information report stated, shukla's third and fourth son were eye witnessed to be linked with the attackers.^[54] Three circus employees, including a woman trapeze artist, were injured following an altercation that took place over the purchase of tickets, witnesses also reported that shots were fired on.^[53] Hooligans those were implicated were close associates of shukla's sons and were already facing criminal charges against them.^[54] Shukla's sons also had a few pending cases against them. Although, anticipatory bail for his fourth son was turned down by district judge at shahdol, police administration was profoundly afraid to act in the case as the government actions were stalled. BJP held a public meeting to condemn and demand shukla's and chief minister's resignation on moral grounds, Kailash Chandra Joshi then opposition leader charged "The government is deliberately suppressing facts in the case and shielding the influential accused".^[54] Government had ordered CID enquiry and officer in charge was transferred as district police captain Nandan Dubey, who later became state police chief, found him dubious. All these accusations were denied by shukla's sons by saying that their political rivals from opposition party at city and capital were trying to humiliate them and their father's image. Shukla himself insisted that the whole thing was a political game aimed at hurting him.^[54]

Personal life and family[]

Shukla's family has its roots as Pandit Ram Sundar Shukla son of Pandit Shyam Sundar Shukla, a patwari (d.1968), and his wife Buddhi Shukla, a housewife (d.1980). They had four sons and two daughter named as Ram Kishore Shukla, Bhagwati Prasad Shukla, Ganga Prasad Shukla, Durga Shankar Shukla, archana shukla and leela shukla.

Shukla with Digvijaya Singh, Santosh Kumar Shukla, Dr. Surendra Shukla and Lal Bahadur Singh (extreme left) at chief minister house, 6 Shyamla hills, Bhopal in 2002

Shukla married a farmer's daughter, Kalavati Shukla, in 1944, they have issues, seven children - five sons and two daughters named as Banmali Prasad Shukla, Vindhyeshwari Prasad Shukla, Santosh Kumar Shukla, Vinod Kumar Shukla, Surendra Shukla, Kavita Shukla and Anita Shukla, among them Santosh Kumar Shukla^[55] is known as his political successor from congress party.^[56][57] He is also deputy president of district congress committee of Shahdol district at Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee.^[58] and others are officers in various state/central cadres, like Vindhyeshwari Prasad Shukla who is deputy secretary of legislative assembly of Madhya Pradesh,^[59] Vinod Shukla is assistant commissioner in Bhopal Municipal Corporation^[60] and Surendra Shukla who is divisional coordinator at ministry of youth affairs and sports^[61] is also a spare time writer & poet. Some of his creations include Pratiksha, Mati ko naman, Mere desh ki mati.^{[citation needed]} Also he had sung number of patriotic songs and played principal characters for DD Madhya Pradesh daily serials like Hasina Manzil.^{[citation needed]} His fifth daughter in law Urmila Surendra Shukla who was a notable additional district magistrate, deputy commissioner of Bhopal^[62][63] and had been deputy secretary of Government of Madhya Pradesh^[64][65] is currently posted as additional director of higher education department of Madhya Pradesh,^[66] nominated to become a conferee of Indian Administrative Service soon. His first daughter Kavita Shukla who is married to the first son of Bhagwan Datt Sharma is a high-school principal nowadays in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh other one is a house wife. His personal belongings, possessions and awards can still be observed at Kishore Kala Mandir which is the private residence of the family.

Vindhyeshwari Prasad Shukla (partially appearing at left) and Dr. Surendra Shukla (middle) receiving personal notations from A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in 2002

The second son of Ram Sundar Shukla immediate younger to Ram Kishore Shukla was Bhagwati Prasad Shukla a doctor of philosophy from Agra university awarded so for his contributions in the field of Hindi and Bagheli languages was the second notable figure in the second generation.^[67][68][69] His book Bagheli Bhasha aur sahithya is the original book from which one can get all the basic knowledge about bagheli language and bagheli culture^[70] He had issues two sons and three daughters among which Rashmi Shukla has been joint director of Madhya Pradesh school education nowadays principal of govt. college of education, Rewa.^[71] Ganga Prasad Shukla was the third son to Ram Sundar Shukla who was retired from the post of principal in a government school. Durga Shankar Shukla is youngest to all who had his entire life spent in care of family farms and ranches.

Shukla's grandson and son of Surendra Shukla, Eeshan Surendra Shukla is a National Bal Shree awardee and a national level swimmer.^[72][73]

Death[]

Diagonised with diabetes in his 40s, Shukla spent most of his life on medication. On 10 November 2003 when General elections were taking place in Madhya Pradesh he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage. He was referred to be admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences, but since elections were going on no government plane was available; as a result, he had to be treated in Rewa. After a month of unconsciousness, Shukla died on 11 December 2003.

Career chronology[]

• Earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Darbar College, Rewa in 1947.
  • Elected as president for student union.
  • Employed as a teacher at Martand Higher Secondary School in Rewa after his graduation.
• Gained a Bachelor of Laws from law college, Rewa and started legal practice in 1950.
  • Elected as president for law college society.
  • Elected as deputy president of law college, Shahdol.
• Elected as president of the local gram panchayat and nyaya panchayat in 1950.
• Elected as Socialist Party legislator from Beohari Vidhan Sabha constituency to Legislative Assembly of Vindhya Pradesh in 1951.
  • Elected as the Leader of the Opposition of the Legislative Assembly of Vindhya Pradesh.
• Elected as an independent legislator from Beohari Vidhan Sabha constituency to Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh in 1957.
• Elected as Socialist Party legislator from Beohari Vidhan Sabha constituency to Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh in 1962.
  • Elected as leader of socialist party legislators in the house.
  • Elected as regional president of Madhya Pradesh socialist party.
• Joined Indian National Congress party in 1964.
  • Elected as president of district congress committee, Shahdol.
• Elected as Indian National Congress party legislator from Beohari Vidhan Sabha constituency to Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh in 1967.
  • Elected as Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh.
• Elected as president of public accounts committee, estimating committee and special rights committee in various five-year plans.
• Elected as Indian National Congress party legislator from Beohari Vidhan Sabha constituency to Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh in 1980.
  • Elected as Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh.
  • Elected as Speaker of Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh.
• Elected as Indian National Congress party legislator from Beohari Vidhan Sabha constituency to Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh in 1985.
  • Appointed as cabinet minister for Finance, Law & Legislative, Separate Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs.
• Elected as Indian National Congress party legislator from Beohari Vidhan Sabha constituency to Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh in 1993.
  • Elected as Pro tem Speaker of the house in 1993.

See also[]

• Bansagar Dam
• Son Bridge

Citations[]

References[]

Books[]

• M.V. Kamath. Bharat Mein Sansad Aur Rajya Vidhan Mandal. Allied Publishers (p) Limited. p. 369. ISBN 978-81-7023-115-8. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
• India News and Feature Alliance (2000). India who's who. INFA Publications. p. 104. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
• K. K. Thomas (1985). Asian recorder. K. K. Thomas at Recorder Press. p. viii & xix. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
• Vimla Kaul (1978). India since independence: chronology of events. Sagar Publications. p. 2936. ISBN 978-81-7082-000-0. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
• Subhash C. Kashyap (1974). The politics of power: defections and state politics in India. National Pub. House. p. 469. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
• Ashfaq Ali (1969). Bhopal: past and present: a brief history of Bhopal from the hoary past upto the present time. Jai Bharat Pub. House; [distributor: Lyall Book Depot]. p. 197. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
• Stanlee Reed (1970). The Times of India directory and year book including who's who. Bennett, Coleman & Co. p. 339. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
• India. Parliament. Lok Sabha. Secretariat (1989). Political events annual. Sterling Publishers. p. 189. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
• N. S. Gehlot (1985). Office of the speaker in India. Deep & Deep Publications. p. 164. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
• India News and Feature Alliance (1987). India who's who. INFA Publications. p. Not known. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
• Shiv Lal (1996). Election activity in India, 1993. Election Archives. p. 9. Retrieved 5 July 2012.

Secondary sources[]

• "General Elections of VP 1951" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2004.
• "General Elections of MP 1957" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2004.
• "General Elections of MP 1962" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2004.
• "General Elections of MP 1967" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2004.
• "General Elections of MP 1980" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2004.
• "General Elections of MP 1985" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2004.
• "General Elections of MP 1993" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2004.
• "By the order and in the name of Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Urmila Surendra Shukla, Deputy Secretary" (PDF). Department of Panchayat and Rural Development, Government of MP. 1 September 2010.
• "By the order and in the name of Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Urmila Surendra Shukla, Deputy Secretary_2" (PDF). Department of Panchayat and Rural Development, Government of MP. 8 October 2008.

Web sites[]

• "Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly". Government of MP. 2004.
• "Pt Ram Kishore Shukla memorial college of arts & commerce". Government of MP. 2005.
• "Santosh Kumar Shukla 1st runner up represented Indian National Congress". Electionplans_dot_com. 2003.
• "Santosh Kumar Shukla performance in general election of Madhya Pradesh". Election Commission of India. 2005.
• "Bhopal Municipal Corporation Officers". Government of MP. 2004.
• "60 acres of prime land taken away from 'royal' owners". The Hindu. 2005. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013.
• "Contacts of Divisional Commissionerate Bhopal". Department of General Administration, Government. Of MP. 2011.

Journal articles[]

• Shiv Prasad Muflis (25 January 1988). "Article on Speakers of Madhya Pradesh". THE STATES, Free Press Journal, Bombay. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
• India Today Group (1988). Ticket to Ride. Living Media India Pvt. Ltd. p. 108. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
• India. Parliament. Lok Sabha. Secretariat (1983). The journal of parliamentary information. Lok Sabha Secretariat. p. 450. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
• India Today Group (1987). Sons of Trouble. Living Media India Pvt. Ltd. p. 67. Retrieved 5 July 2012.

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ram Kishore Shukla.

• Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly — Government of Madhya Pradesh web site
• Pt Ram Kishore Shukla memorial college of arts & commerce — Government of Madhya Pradesh web site
• Official facebook page