Haridev Joshi: From Banswara to Jaipur, the stalwart CM with a prominent legacy

In this column we are writing about a taller personality of Rajasthan who had a single hand as another hand was amputated but that did not stop him from having a steady hand on the tiller in politics of the state. Yes, we are writing this about Hari Dev Joshi who never lost an election and became state’s CM 3 times.

While his rise to the top job of the state was meteoric, his falling victim to political circumstances was dramatic. Probably he was the reason why a charismatic leader like Ramniwas Mirdha despite nursing ambitions, lost the opportunity to become CM of the state.

Haridev Joshi Early Life | Childhood | Family

He was born on 17th December 1921 in tribal dominated area of the state, in Banswara. During his early childhood he suffered an injury in his left hand. The treatment was made with local methods. This aggravated the trouble and infection spread into the entire left hand. On the doctors advise, to stem the spread of infection, his arm was amputated. But this did not dampen the spirits of Joshi who was destined to bring glory to his family.

At that time, country was under imperialistic rule, Joshi was moved by the situation of India and tribal parts of the region and decided to participate in freedom struggle.

Haridev Joshi Political journey

As written earlier, It is an achievement of Joshi who came from a tribal dominated region and having roots in Banswara, was able to impress upon High command in Delhi to make him CM of the state. Not once or twice but thrice. Joshi served as Chief Minister for the first time from August 11, 1973, to September 29, 1977. He held the position again from March 10, 1985, to January 20, 1988. Haridev Joshi was again appointed as Chief Minister from December 4, 1989, to March 4, 1990.

He was also appointed as Governor on three occasions for the states- Assam, Meghalaya & West Bengal.

How Haridev Joshi became CM for the first time ?

In one of our earlier articles on former CM Baraktullah Khan, we mentioned that Khan was made the CM in 1971 and that he had a small cabinet on the formula of maximum governance minimum government. Hari Dev Joshi was among those few leaders who were inducted in the government of Baraktullah Khan. So when Khan departed from the world suddenly in 1973, fate smiled at Joshi.

Being the seniormost minister, he was appointed as working CM. soon a CLP meeting was convened which was to decide its leader who would be the new CM of Rajasthan. His contest was with Jat leader Ram Niwas Mirdha who was also Mos Home. The MLAs however cast their support with Joshi who became the CM for the first time then. Importantly, He also got the ‘’blessings of the High Command” and Indira Gandhi gave her green signal to him as the CM.

However his tenure was short and he couldn’t complete 5 years at the post and given the voter mood Congress party lost the elections badly.

Phir ek baar, Joshi sarkar

Congress rose like a phoenix and formed the government in the state in 1980,but the party made Jagannath Pahadia as the CM. Pahadia was close to Sanjay Gandhi who used to call the shots in the party. His tenure was too short to be called as short and he could remain on the seat for merely 13 months between 6th June 1980 to 14 July 1981.

His removal as the CM was dramatic. There was a writer’s convention in Jaipur and noted poet Mahadevi Verma was among those present. It is said that he criticized her style of poems upon which she purportedly complained to Indira Gandhi and as a result, Pahadia’s marching orders were issued. He was replaced by Shiv Charan Mathur who became a victim of the circumstances.

In 1985, the killing of ex royal of Bharatpur Raja Man Singh during the heat of elections led to Mathur’s removal as party thought the congress might lose the election because this issue & Heeralal Devpura was made working CM.

The party won the elections & Rajiv Gandhi who had by then become the PM, made Joshi as the CM of the state from 10th March 1985 . However, while he may have been lucky to get to the coveted post again, it was perhaps his luck only which can be blamed as once again he could not complete his term and remained on the post till 1988.

Trial by fire- Deorala Sati incident

It was during his tenure that the infamous sati incident happened in the state in Deorala in September 1987 when a young Roop Kanwar self-immolated on the funeral pyre of her husband. The incident evoked emotions across the world & there was a lot of uproar over this. Even today, this incident is etched in the annals of history.

This trial by fire incident was a test for PM Rajiv Gandhi who was under pressure to respond. Gandhi asked Joshi to pass a law against ‘ sati’.

Achilles’ heel ? The famous U-turn incident which veered off the political career of Joshi

The deorala incident has been a dampener in the political fortunes of Joshi. As if it was not enough, whether it was cruel fate or a political conspiracy, Joshi fell victim to political vicissitudes.

Just afresh from the Deorala sati incident, in December 1987, Joshi was alerted by PM Rajiv Gandhi that he would be holding a meeting of his ministers in Sariska and was specially asked not to make elaborate administrative arrangements for his visit and Rajiv wanted to keep it a low key and informal meeting.

But the condition of Joshi once bitten twice shy after failing to make arrangements of Rajiv’s earlier visit, left no stone unturned to mobilise the administration in a clear violation to what the young PM had ordered.

When Rajiv arrived with his cavalcade in Sariska, a cop who was on the route lining guided the cavalcade to make a turn. An suspecting motorcade turned towards the direction shown by the cop and Rajiv was surprised to see whole administration and their cars who were deputed with the arrangements. Rajiv is said to have reprimanded Joshi a two time CM.

A few days later, in January 1989, Joshi resigned.

Third time lucky

Joshi was sent packing to Assam as the Governor and many other leaders like Shiv Charan Mathur , Ashok Gehlot etc had become influential in state politics. The year was 1989 and there was a paradigm shift in the country’s politics with the rise of Mandir politics. Congress party faced a rout in Lok Sabha elections in the state and the responsibility lied with then PCC Chief Ashok Gehlot & then CM Shiv Charan Mathur.

Joshi who was cooling heels in Assam Raj Bhawan was asked to take oath in Jaipur Raj Bhawan as the CM of Rajasthan on 4th December 1989. A few months later, Party lost the assembly elections too and with this ended the third tenure of Joshi after 4 months.