Acharya Kriplani

In News

• Recently, the Prime Minister has paid tributes to Acharya Kripalani on his Jayanti.

More about Acharya Kripalani

• About:
  • Birth:
    • Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, also called Acharya Kripalani was born November 11, 1888, in Hyderabad, India (now in Pakistan).
  • Acharya:
    • He earned the moniker ‘Acharya’ around 1922 when he was teaching at the Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by Mahatma Gandhi.
• Contribution to India’s freedom struggle:
  • Acharya Kripalani was a prominent Indian educator, social activist, and politician in both pre-and post-independence India.
  • Pre-independence:
    • Kripalani was prominently involved over a decade in top Congress party affairs, and in the organisation of the Salt Satyagraha and the Quit India Movement. 
    • He was a close associate of Mohandas K. Gandhi and a longtime supporter of his ideology.
    • Kripalani served in the interim government of India (1946–1947) and the Constituent Assembly of India.
  • Congress presidency:
    • He was an Indian politician noted particularly for holding the presidency of the Indian National Congress during the transfer of power in 1947.
  • Post-independence:

• Kripalani was a harsh critic of both Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. 
• He opposed Nehru’s policies, which he thought were against Gandhian values, and later opposed Indira’s policies too.
• He joined the economically right-wing Swatantra Party later in life.

• He was also the husband of Sucheta Kripalani.
  • Sucheta Kripalani was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. 
  • She was India’s first female Chief Minister, serving as the head of the Uttar Pradesh government from 1963 to 1967.
• Death:
  • Acharya Kripalani died on 19 March 1982 in Ahmedabad at the age of 93.

Source: IE