The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the most prominent figure of the Indian independence movement, [1] are called Gandhians.
Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or Rama Rajya), economics, environmentalism, women's rights, animal rights, spirituality, the truth, nonviolence, asceticism and others. Thus Gandhians hailing from a wide range of work profile attribute their ideas to him.
An overwhelming number of Bharat Ratna awardees are such individuals. In a 2012 poll called The Greatest Indian, the jury decided to keep Gandhi out as it "is impossible for anyone to come close to the father of the nation when it comes to leadership, impact and contribution". The poll included as many as 10 individuals in top 20 who were either close aides, disciples, successors or Gandhian ideologues. [lower-alpha 1]
Name | Notes |
---|---|
Jawaharlal Nehru | Gandhi designated him as his political heir. |
Vallabhbhai Patel | Along with Nehru, Patel was the closest aide of Gandhi. |
Vinoba Bhave | He is deemed as the spiritual heir of Gandhi |
Nelson Mandela | First president of South Africa |
François Bayrou | French politician who served as cabinet minister of various departments [3] |
Martin Luther King Jr. | American civil rights movement activist |
Ho Chi Minh | Founding father of Vietnam [4] |
Maulana Azad | First education minister of India |
Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Former Prime Minister of India [5] |
Narendra Modi | Current Prime Minister of India [6] [7] |
Abdul Ghaffar Khan | Also called "the Frontier Gandhi" |
Sarojini Naidu | 1st Governors of the United Provinces of Independent India |
Tanguturi Prakasam | First Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh |
K. Chandrashekar Rao | Current Chief Minister of Telangana |
C. Rajagopalachari | Last Governor-General of India |
Maria Lacerda de Moura | Brazilian reformer |
Eric Adams | Mayor of New York City |
George Joseph | Indian independence activist |
Habib Bourguiba | First Prime Minister of Tunisia |
Kailash Satyarthi | Nobel Peace Prize laureate |
Ashok Gehlot | Current Chief Minister of Rajasthan |
Shankarrao Deo | Independence activist |
Mehdi Bazargan | Leading figure of Iranian Revolution along with Ruhollah Khomeini and Morteza Motahhari |
Mirabehn | Independence activist, described Gandhi as Jesus Christ |
Govind Vallabh Pant | First Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh |
Sushila Nayyar | Indian politician and independence activist |
Jamnalal Bajaj | Indian industrialist |
Sharad Pawar | Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra [8] |
Draupadi Murmu | Current President of India |
M.G. Ramachandran | Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,and influential actor in tamil cinema. |
K. Kamaraj | Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu |
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule. He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā, first applied to him in South Africa in 1914, is now used throughout the world.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician and poet who was Prime Minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004. He was the first non-Congress prime minister to serve a full term in the office. Vajpayee was one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a member of the RSS, a Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation. He was also a Hindi poet and a writer.
The Janata Party is an unrecognized political party in India. It was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian National Congress. In the 1977 general election, the party defeated the Congress and Janata leader Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress prime minister in independent modern India's history.
Gandhism is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of Mohandas K. Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance.
Raj Ghat is a memorial complex in Delhi, India. The first memorial was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi where a black marble platform was raised to mark the spot of his cremation on 31 January 1948 and consists of an eternal flame at one end. Located on Delhi's Ring Road, a stone footpath leads to the walled enclosure that houses the memorial. Later the memorial complex was expanded to include memorials for other prominent Indian leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Charan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Dayanand Anglo Vaidik Mahavidyalaya is a college in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, established in 1919 by Lala Diwan Chand, is the second oldest college in the city. The college is situated in Civil Lines, opposite the Green Park Stadium. It is affiliated with Chhatrapati Sahu Ji Maharaj University, formerly with the University of Agra. The college is accredited by the NAAC. Manas Pandey is present principal of this college. It is managed by the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College Trust and Management Society.
The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was the first satyagraha movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in British India and is considered a historically important rebellion in the Indian independence movement. It was a farmer's uprising that took place in Champaran district of Bihar in the Indian subcontinent, during the [British colonial period]. The farmers were protesting against having to grow indigo with barely any payment for it.
Beni Prasad Verma was an Indian politician and a founding member of the Samajwadi Party. A prominent member of the Samajwadi Party, he later joined Indian National Congress and was elected on its ticket to Lok Sabha in 2009. In 2016 he rejoined the Samajwadi Party.
Gandhian socialism is the branch of socialism based on the national interpretation of the theories of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhian socialism generally centers on Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule authored by Gandhi.
Gandhian economics is a school of economic thought based on the spiritual and socio-economic principles expounded by Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. It is largely characterised by rejection of the concept of the human being as a rational actor always seeking to maximize material self-interest that underlies classical economic thinking. Where Western economic systems were based on what he called the "multiplication of wants," Gandhi felt that this was both unsustainable and devastating to the human spirit. His model, by contrast, aimed at the fulfillment of needs – including the need for meaning and community. As a school of economics the resulting model contained elements of protectionism, nationalism, adherence to the principles and objectives of nonviolence and a rejection of class war in favor of socio-economic harmony. Gandhi's economic ideas also aim to promote spiritual development and harmony with a rejection of materialism. The term "Gandhian economics" was coined by J. C. Kumarappa, a close supporter of Gandhi.
Lakshmi Chand Jain (1925–2010) was a political activist and writer. Later, he served at various times as a member of the Planning Commission, as Indian High commissioner to South Africa, as a member of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) and as secretary of the Indian Cooperative Union and the All India Handicrafts Board (AIHB). His position as the ambassador was terminated as the Vajpayee Government felt that he had not defended India's position on Nuclear tests effectively in South Africa. He eventually joined the Indian National Congress. He was posthumously awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, by the UPA government. However his family declined to accept the award, saying that Jain was against accepting State Honours.
My Country My Life is an autobiographical book by L. K. Advani, an Indian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004, and was the Leader of the Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha. The book was released on 19 March 2008 by Abdul Kalam, the eleventh President of India. The book has 1,040 pages and narrates autobiographical accounts and events in the life of Advani. It became the best seller book in the non-fiction category and Advani joined Archer as a bestseller author. The book website claims the book sold an excess of 1,000,000 copies. The book alongside mentions the event in Indian politics and India's history from 1900 till date.
Thekkinkadu Maidanam is situated in the middle of Thrissur city of Kerala state in India. This hillock which seats the Vadakkumnathan Temple, is an open ground in the centre of the Thrissur city which is under the custody of the Cochin Devaswom Board (CDB). It hosts the spectacular cultural festival Thrissur Pooram, which is considered the Mother of all Poorams in Kerala.
The Indian 1000-rupee banknote is an obsolete denomination of the Indian rupee. It was first introduced by the Reserve Bank of India in 1938 under British rule and subsequently demonetized in 1946. Post-independence, the denomination was re-introduced in 1954. In January 1978, all high-denomination banknotes of ₹1000, ₹5000, and ₹10000 were demonetized in order to curb unaccounted cash money.
The Greatest Indian was a poll sponsored by Reliance Mobile and conducted by Outlook magazine, in partnership with CNN-IBN and The History Channel. The poll was conducted from June to August 2012, with the winner, B. R. Ambedkar, announced on 11 August. A program associated with the poll aired from 4 June until 15 August.
The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial is a public statue of Mahatma Gandhi, installed on a triangular island along Massachusetts Avenue, in front of the Embassy of India, Washington, D.C., in the United States. A gift from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, it was dedicated on September 16, 2000 during a state visit of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the presence of US President Bill Clinton.
Mahatma Gandhi Central University (MGCU), is a central university located in Motihari, Bihar, India. MGCU has 7 schools and 20 academic departments.
Sadashiv Sathe or Bhau Sathe was an Indian sculptor. His notable works include the 5-metre high statue of Mahatma Gandhi that is part of the main structure of the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial situated at Dandi, Navsari and the 18-foot equestrian statue of Shivaji at the Gateway of India, Mumbai.
Rajkumari Haksar, (1928–2014) also known as Rajkumari Kaul, was an Indian personality.
The hero of Indian independence from the British, and the greatest figure in decolonization, was Mahatma Gandhi
Vajpayee unequivocally declared that Gandhian Socialism was the foundational ideology of the newly launched party.