Banarasi Das

Banarasi Das, popularly known as Babu Banarasi Das (8 July 1912 – 3 August 1985) was an Indian politician and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was from Janata Party.

Banarasi Das
11th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
In office 28 February 1979 – 17 February 1980
Preceded by	Ram Naresh Yadav
Succeeded by	President's rule
Personal details
Born	(1912-07-18)18 July 1912 Utarawli, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India
Died	3 August 1985(1985-08-03) (aged 73) India
Political party	Janata Party

Career

Banarasi Das was a freedom fighter. He went to jail many times during India's freedom struggle. He was elected to Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha in 1977 as member of Janata Party from Hapur or Khurja, both those seats having elected a member named Banarsi Das.^[1] He was Chief Minister from 28 February 1979 to 17 February 1980. He joined Charan Singh's Janata Party (secular) when the Janata Party split. He lost 1980 Vidhan Sabha election.^[2]

Personal life

Banarasi Das was born in Utarawli, Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. Banarasi Das was married and had five sons and five daughters. Two of his sons followed his footsteps. The elder one Harendra Agarwal was the former member of legislative council & is active in Indian politics. The youngest son Late Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta^[3] was a former Rajya sabha MP and ex national general secretary of Bahujan Samaj Party and was Minister of State in Manmohan singh government.^[4]

Legacy

An Indian postal stamp featuring Das was issued in 2013. Babu Banarasi Das University, Lucknow, and Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Uttar Pradesh are named in his honor.