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Bhakt Darshan (1912–1991) served Garhwal as Member of Parliament in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Lok Sabha (India) as well as being a Deputy Minister and Minister of State in the government of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.
Personal life
Bhakt Darshan, the youngest son of Gopal Singh Rawat of Musethi tea estate in Garhwal, was born in 1912. In December 1911, the third and last Delhi Durbar was held to commemorate the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary as Emperor and Empress of India. Gopal Singh Rawat named his youngest son Raj Darshan in their honour. As an adult, Darshan changed his name to Bhakt Darshan.
Educated at Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore's Visva-Bharati University Santiniketan - the alma mater of several prominent personalities of the nationalist movement in India, including Indira Gandhi, Satyajit Ray, and Amartya Sen - Darshan joined the Indian Independence Movement at the age of 14 and suffered imprisonment for several years. He was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Gobind Ballabh Pant.
Darshan married Savitri Devi when aged 17. The couple had seven children.
Member of Parliament
In 1952, Darshan was elected the Member of Parliament from Garhwal (Lok Sabha constituency), Uttar Pradesh, in the first general elections of independent India. He represented that constituency for four consecutive parliaments, between 1952–1970, before resigning in 1971. The cause of his resignation was a split in his party, the Indian National Congress, caused by an ideological dispute between factions headed by Indira Gandhi on the one hand and people such as Morarji Desai on the other. Darshan did not want to take sides and so left to lead a private life in Dehradun.
Union Minister
As a Union Minister during 1963-1971 he held various portfolios. He was Deputy Minister for Education in the cabinets of Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri, and was later Minister of State for Transport and Minister of State for Education in Indira Gandhi's cabinet. He was the first Chairman of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (Central School Organization).
Darshan took keen interest in the development of Garhwal, especially in the matters of education and general welfare and upliftment of the poor and was associated with several organizations connected with the development of the region.
He was involved in the promotion of Hindi, he served as Deputy Chairman Hindi Sansthan Utttar Pradesh; Vice Chancellor Kanpur University; Deputy Chairman Uttar Pradesh Khadi and Gram Udiyog Board, and was intimately connected with various social and cultural organizations. He also organised the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Fund. He worked relentlessly for the welfare of ex- servicemen and serving soldiers and also established Azad Hind Fauj Relief Fund.
A promoter of healthy journalism. he was founder-editor of 'Karma Bhumi'. a Hindi weekly. He wrote two publications, Suman-Smriti-Granth and Garhwal-Ki-Diwangat Vibhutiyan.
Bhakt Darshan died on 30 April 1991 at the age of 79.
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