Padmaja Naidu

Padmaja Naidu (17 November 1900 – 2 May 1975) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician who was the 4th Governor of West Bengal from 3 November 1956 to 1 June 1967. She was the daughter of Sarojini Naidu.

Padmaja Naidu
4th Governor of West Bengal
In office 3 November 1956 – 1 June 1967
Preceded by	Phani Bhusan Chakravartti (acting)
Succeeded by	Dharma Vira
Personal details
Born	17 November 1900 Hyderabad, Hyderabad State, British India
Died	2 May 1975 (aged 74) New Delhi, India
Parent(s)	Mutyala Govindrajulu Naidu Sarojini Naidu
Occupation	Politician

Early life

Padmaja Naidu was born in Hyderabad to a Telugu kapu father (from Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh) and a Bengali Brahmin mother.^[1] Her mother was the poet and Indian freedom fighter, Sarojini Naidu. Her father Mutyala Govindrajulu Naidu was a physician.^[2] She had four siblings, Jayasurya, Leelamani, Nilawar and Randheer.^[3]

Political career

At the age of 21, she co-founded the Indian National Congress in the Nizam ruled princely state of Hyderabad. She was jailed for taking part in the "Quit India" movement in 1942. After Independence, she was elected to the Indian Parliament in 1950. In 1956 she was appointed the Governor of West Bengal.^[4] She was also associated with the Red Cross and was the chairperson of the Indian Red Cross from 1971 to 1972.^[5]

Personal life

Early in her life, Padmaja was a close friend of Ruttie Petit who married Muhammad Ali Jinnah, later the founder of Pakistan.^[6] Padmaja Naidu had a close relationship with the Nehru family, including with Jawaharlal Nehru and his sister, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.^[7] Pandit later told Pupul Jayakar, Indira Gandhi's friend and biographer, that Padmaja Naidu and Nehru lived together for many years. Nehru did not marry Padmaja because he did not want to hurt his daughter, Indira.^[8][9] However, Padmaja never married Nehru in the hope that he would propose one day.^[10][6] After retiring, Padmaja lived until her death in 1975 in a bungalow on the Teen Murti Bhavan estate, Prime Minister Nehru's official residence and later a museum dedicated to his memory.^[3]

Legacy

The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling was named after her death.

References

1. • Roger D. Long, ed. (2004). Charisma and Commitment in South Asian History: Essays Presented to Stanley Wolpert. Orient Blackswan. p. 275. ISBN 9788125026419. Sarojini was a Brahmin and a Bengali, while Dr Naidu was from the Balija community and a Telugu
   • Sri G. D. Kameswara Rao, ed. (1978). Sarojini Naidu The Nightingale Of India. Vol. 23. Director of Information and Public Relations, Andhra Pradesh. p. 8. Kumari Sarojini chattopadhyaya at 19 years, married Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu of Hyderabad, a non brahmin who belonged to Balija community.
   • Sheela Reddy, ed. (2017). Mr and Mrs Jinnah: The Marriage that Shook India. Random House India. p. 77. ISBN 9780143439660. Sarojini's marriage to Dr naidu did not create an uproar among either the Telugu Balija clan to which Dr Naidu belonged or among the Bengali subcaste of Kulin Brahmins to which Sarojini's family belonged.
   • The Illustrated Weekly of India. Vol. 92. Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press. 1971. p. 12.
   • Padmini Sengupta, ed. (1966). Sarojini Naidu: A Biography. Asia Publishing House for the. p. 34.
   • Mrs. Marcus B. Fuller, ed. (1900). The Wrongs of Indian Womanhood. Revell. p. 220.
   • G.A. Natesan, ed. (1972). The Indian Review. Vol. 67. G.A. Natesan & Company. p. 18.
2. "Biography". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
3. Makarand R. Paranjape (3 September 2012). Making India: Colonialism, National Culture, and the Afterlife of Indian English Authority. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 164–167. ISBN 978-94-007-4661-9.
4. "Padmaja Naidu Dies at 75; ExWest Bengal Governor". New York Times. No. May 3. 1975. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
5. Gandhi, Sonia (2004). Two Alone, Two Together. p. 18. ISBN 0-14-303245-3.
6. Nisid Hajari (2015). Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 32–34. ISBN 978-0-547-66921-2.
7. Chandralekha Mehta (25 August 2008). Freedom's Child: Growing Up During Satyagraha. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-81-8475-966-2.
8. Jayakar, Pupul (1995). Indira Gandhi, a biography (Rev. ed.). New Delhi, India: Penguin. pp. 90–92. ISBN 978-0140114621.
9. Bose, Mihir (2004). Raj, secrets, revolution : a life of Subhas Chandra Bose. Norwich: Grice Chapman. pp. 137, 160. ISBN 9780954572648.
10. Alex Von Tunzelmann (7 August 2007). Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire. Henry Holt and Company. pp. 95, 109, 308. ISBN 978-0-8050-8073-5.

Further reading

• Benichou, Lucien D. (2000), From Autocracy to Integration: Political Developments in Hyderabad State, 1938-1948, Orient Blackswan, pp. 65–68, ISBN 978-81-250-1847-6