Yashwantrao Chavan

Yashwantrao Chavan
Yashwantrao Chavan
5th Deputy Prime Minister of India
	In office; 28 July 1979 – 14 January 1980
Prime Minister	Charan Singh
Preceded by	Charan Singh; Jagjivan Ram
Succeeded by	Devi Lal
Minister of Home Affairs
	In office; 28 July 1979 – 14 January 1980
Prime Minister	Charan Singh
Preceded by	Hirubhai M. Patel
Succeeded by	Zail Singh
	In office; 14 November 1966 – 27 June 1970
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Gulzarilal Nanda
Succeeded by	Indira Gandhi
Minister of External Affairs
	In office; 10 October 1974 – 24 March 1977
Preceded by	Sardar Swaran Singh
Succeeded by	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of Finance
	In office; 27 June 1970 – 10 October 1974
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Indira Gandhi
Succeeded by	Chidambaram Subramaniam
Minister of Defence
	In office; 14 November 1962 – 14 November 1966
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru; Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting); Lal Bahadur Shastri; Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting); Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Jawaharlal Nehru
Succeeded by	Sardar Swaran Singh
1st Chief Minister of Maharashtra
	In office; 1 May 1960 – 14 November 1962
Governor	Sri Prakasa; P. Subbarayan; Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Marotrao Kannamwar
3rd Chief Minister of Bombay State
	In office; 1 November 1956 – 30 April 1960
Governor	Harekrushna Mahatab; Sri Prakasa
Preceded by	Morarji Desai
Succeeded by	office abolished
Personal details
Born	Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan; 12 March 1913; Karad, Satara district, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died	25 November 1984 (aged 71); New Delhi, India
Resting place	Yashwantrao Chavan Samadhi, Karad
Political party	Indian National Congress (Before 1977; 1981–1984)
Other political; affiliations	Indian National Congress-Urs (1977); Janata Party (1977–1978); Indian National Congress-Socialist (1978–1981)
Spouse(s)	Venutai Chavan
Alma mater	University of Mumbai,ILS Law College

Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan (12 March 1913 – 25 November 1984) was an Indian politician. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 1979 to 1980. He was a strong Congress leader. He is also co-operative leader, social activist and writer. He was popularly known as Leader of Common People.

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Yashwantrao Chavan was born in a Maratha-Kunbi^[1]^[2]family on 12 March 1913 in the village of Devrashtre in Satara District (now in Sangli District) of Maharashtra, India. He had three siblings. Chavan lost his father in his early childhood and was brought up by his uncle and mother.

Chavan was an active participant in the struggle for independence of India. As a schoolboy in Karad in 1930, he was fined for his participation in the Non-cooperation Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi. In 1932, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for hoisting the Indian flag in Satara.

Yashwantrao Chavan died of a heart attack on 25 November 1984 in Delhi. He was aged 71 years.

Legacy

Yashwantrao Chavan holds the record of being the only Maharashtrian leader. He held the 4 most important post in the Union government. They are Home, External Affairs, Defence and Finance.
When Yashwantrao was appointed Federal Defence minister following the China war in 1962, a popular saying arose in Maharashtra- "हिमालयाच्या हाकेला धावला सह्याद्री" ("Himalayachya Hakela Dhavla Sahyadri"), translated in English, Sahyadri (the mountain range that separates Konkan from the Deccan Plateau) came rushing on the call (for help) by the Himalaya.
During the 1960s and early 70s when Yashwantrao was at the peak of his power and influence, he was called Pratishivaji or New Shivaji.^[3]