Ramakant Khalap was born on 5 August 1946 in Mandrem,Portuguese India to a Marathi couple,Dattaram and Satyabhama Khalap. He worked as a school teacher and later as a college lecturer. After this,he completed a law degree,and soon became a famous and successful lawyer of Goa.
Political career
After the death of then Chief Minister of GoaDayanand Bandodkar,the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party put their support behind Khalap to contest the By-Election from the Mandrem Assembly seat left vacant by death of Bandodkar. Bhaie (Elder Brother),as Khalap is affectionately known in Goa,served as in his role in the Mandrem Assembly seat six times,five of them consecutively and then once more after serving in the eleventh Lok Sabha. Khalap was considered the most popular leader of the common man of Goa after Bhau Bandodkar.[citation needed]
Khalap has been Leader of Opposition of Goa Assembly,President of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party,Deputy Chief Minister of Goa,Finance Minister of Goa,Minister of Water Resources of Goa,Minister of Social Welfare Department of Goa,Minister for Information Technology and Deputy Chairman of the Goa State Planning Board.
There is a school named after him called Ramakant Khalap High School at Mandrem,Goa. He is Chairman of a Multi State Scheduled Co-operative Bank called The Mapusa Urban Co-operative Bank of Goa (Bank of Goa). He formed Bardez Bazaar,a consumers cooperative society to cater needs of consumers of Goa. He was President of the Goa Cricket Association. Ramakant Khalap is actively involved with Konkan Marathi Sahitya Parishad,Samrat Club,Gomantak Marathi Parishad and Kala Academy Goa. Khalap is also a trustee of the Pravara Medical Trust which runs medical and other colleges at Pravaranagar,Maharashtra.
Khalap has several developmental achievements to his credit. As Deputy Chief Minister of Goa and Minister of Social Welfare Department he started Dayanand Social Security Scheme of old age pension which he named after Dayanand Bandodkar.
When Khalap became MP on the first day of the house itself in a speech on reference to the late President of IndiaNeelam Sanjiva Reddy,Khalap demanded that best remembrance for the late President would be completion of a Bridge at Dhargal on NH 17 whose foundation stone was laid by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.
All the Lok Sabha members were so impressed that Khalap was successful in getting completion of two bridges,one on NH 17 at Dhargal and another one on Chapora river at Mandrem. Khalap,later as a Minister in H. D. Deve Gowda Government was instrumental in getting the International Airport for Goa at Mopa.
As Minister of Water Resources of Goa,Khalap completed River Linkage project,linking all the rivers and water bodies and further brought water of Tillari Irrigation Project to Goa ending water shortage of Goa.
Khalap got created the Information Technology Department for Govt. of Goa and was the first IT Minister of Goa. All the notable work of Goa in IT sector is due to Bhaie,even when he was in opposition,Khalap secured interest of ordinary Goans in every field.
As a strong Marathi supporter Khalap secured interest of Marathi in the language issue as official language of the State of Goa,in the Goa Official Languages Act,though Khalap was leader of opposition at the time and the ruling congress party was in favour of Konkani. On language issue Khalap is of the opinion that Marathi,Konkani with Davnagari script and Konkani with Roman script,all three should be official languages of Goa and that primary education should be in mother tongue with one paper of English.
Khalap's tenure as Law Minister was so successful that the Pramod Mahajan famously said that,he is a member of the single largest party in the parliament and he is in opposition".......And He is Mr. Ramakanth Khalap,he is the only member of his party and he is the Government."This is what democracy in India is!
For a short while he joined BJP when circumstances were such that BJP rule in Goa was inevitable due to pressure of BJP government at centre. Khalap famously explained it to his supporters as 'Bachenge to aur ladenge'.
Khalap is a freedom fighter who started his political career as an aid to other freedom fighters working for liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule. He is considered a politician of old block,a non-corrupt principled politician. His opponents,though tried to falsely implicate him,on one hand,people of Goa have continued to keep faith in Khalap,on the other hand,those opposing Khalap are themselves found to be charge-sheeted for scams and corruption.[citation needed]
Khalap was also the Chairman of the Goa State Law Commission with Cabinet Minister Rank. As the Chairman of the Law Commission,Goa he drafted bills to make revolutionary changes in Revenue Administration and Revenue Courts in the State of Goa. He also worked on amendment of Portuguese laws of Goa along with other members of the Law Commission.
Khalap is the Founder Chairman of the International Arbitration Centre Goa.
Personal life
Khalap is a Maratha by caste. He is married to Nirmala Khalap and has three sons,Shriniwas (lawyer) married to Shraddha Khalap who contested the 2017 Goa Legislative Assembly election on Aam Aadmi Party ticket from Mapusa constituency;Nikhilchandra (Civil engineer) married to Pratiksha (a doctor and clinical researcher by profession);and Ashwin (hotelier). Khalap has a granddaughter Anahita and 3 grandsons named Ojas,Jaikeshi and Om.[3]
Related Research Articles
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party is a political party in India. It was Goa's first ruling party after the end of Portuguese rule in Goa in 1961.
Mapusa is a city in North Goa,India. It is situated 13 km north of the capital Panaji. The city is the headquarters of Bardez Taluka. It is located on the main highway NH-17,linking Mumbai to Kochi.
Shashikala Kakodkar,popularly known as Tai;lit.'elder sister'),was a prominent leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). She served as the Chief Minister of Goa,Daman and Diu on two occasions,and also was the President of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. She is the first and woman to serve as the Chief Minister of Goa,Daman and Diu.
This is a timeline of Goan history. It overlaps with the histories of other regions in South Asia,the Indian subcontinent,and colonial powers that influenced the region,including Portugal.
Dayanand Balkrishna Bandodkar,popularly known as Bhausaheb Bandodkar was the first Chief Minister of Goa,in the territory of Goa,Daman and Diu. Born in Pernem to a Marathi family who had immigrated from Tuljapur,he became a wealthy mine owner following the Annexation of Goa. He sought to merge the territory with the state of Maharashtra. He swept the polls in 1963,1967 and in 1972 while representing the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and remained in power until his death in 1973.
The 1967 Goa status referendum popularly known as the Goa Opinion Poll was a referendum held in newly annexed union territory of Goa and Damaon in India,on 16 January 1967,to deal with the Konkani language agitation and to decide the future of Goa.
The Konkani language agitations were a series of protests and demonstrations in India,concerning the uncertain future of the Konkani language. They were held by Goans in the former union territory of Goa,Daman and Diu;then under the administration of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). The protests involved citizen journalism,student activism and political demonstrations. The civil unrest ceased when official status for Konkani in the Devnagari script was granted.
The Goa legislative assembly election was held on 3 March 2012,to select the 40 members of the Sixth Goa Legislative Assembly,as the term of Sixth Legislative Assembly ended in March 2012.
Ravi S. Naik is an Indian politician who is a former Chief Minister of Goa and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He started his political career as a member of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
Gopal Mayekar was a writer and a leader of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. He was a member of 9th Lok Sabha from North Goa. He served as minister in Dayanand Bandodkar's ministry of Goa,Daman and Diu from 1967 to 1970. He received the Kala Academy Award for best poetry in 1987 for Swapnamegh. He died at the age of 87 on 22 July 2021.
Laxmikant Yashwant Parsekar is an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Goa,from 2014 to 2017. He was the member of the Goa Legislative Assembly from Mandrem constituency,and he belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is currently an Independent politician.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Goa:
Goa Suraksha Manch is a political party in Goa,a political outfit of the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch which was launched by Subhash Velingkar,a rebel Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader. The party was formed on 2 October 2016.
The first elections to the Goa,Daman &Diu Legislative Assembly were held in December 1963,to elect members of the 30 constituencies,in the Union territory of Goa,Daman and Diu,India.
Vittal Subraya Karmali,also known as V.S. Karmali or Shrirang Karmali,was an Indian politician. He was a former member of the Goa,Daman and Diu Legislative Assembly,representing the Curchorem Assembly constituency from 1963 to 1967 and Siroda Assembly constituency from 1967 to September 1967. He also served as the cabinet minister in the first Dayanand Bandodkar ministry.
Teotonio Francisco Paulo Pereira was an Indian politician,social activist,freedom fighter,musician,orator and businessman who was a former member of the Goa Legislative Assembly,representing the St. Andre Assembly constituency from 1963 to 1977 and 1980 to 1984.
Vasant C. Velingkar was an Indian politician,freedom fighter and goldsmith who was a former member of the Goa Legislative Assembly,representing the Marcaim Assembly constituency from 1963 to March 1964. He was a member of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.
Vijay Maruti Kamulkar was an Indian politician. He was a former member of the Goa,Daman and Diu Legislative Assembly,representing the Mandrem Assembly constituency from 1963 to 1967. Kamulkar was affiliated with the Shiv Sena.
Raghunath Anant Tople,also known as R.A. Tople,was an Indian politician,teacher,and playwright. He was a former member of the Goa,Daman and Diu Legislative Assembly representing the Mapusa Assembly constituency from 1963 to 1967. Tople was a member of the Janata Party.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
