Gandhians

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The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the most prominent figure of the Indian independence movement, [1] are called Gandhians.

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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]

NameNotes
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

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atal Bihari Vajpayee</span> 10th Prime Minister of India in 1996 and from 1998–2004

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician and poet who served three terms as the 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.

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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.

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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.

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<i>My Country My Life</i>

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.

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References

  1. Geoffrey Parker (1995). The Times Illustrated History of the World. HarperCollins. p. 290. The hero of Indian independence from the British, and the greatest figure in decolonization, was Mahatma Gandhi
  2. CK, Faisal. "From Vajpayee's founding speech to Modi's deeds, the BJP has deviated from its stated ideals". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2021-11-20. Vajpayee unequivocally declared that Gandhian Socialism was the foundational ideology of the newly launched party.
  3. Politique (2018-09-21). "Bayrou au pays de Gandhi". Le Point. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  4. "Ho Chi Minh: Remembering the King and the Saint". The Wire. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  5. Official Visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the United States, September 13-14, 2000, p. 98
  6. 26/May/2020 (26 May 2020). "Where Narendra Modi's Gandhian 'Tapasya' Falls Short". Thewire.in. Retrieved 1 January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. "Gandhian values are becoming increasingly relevant: PM Modi in Tamil Nadu". OneIndia. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  8. "Gandhi's non-violence is the only way forward, says Sharad Pawar".