Manohar Joshi

Manohar Gajanan Joshi (2 December 1937 – 23 February 2024) was an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra, who served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999, and Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2004. He was one of the prominent leaders of the Shiv Sena, and also one of the Indians to be elected to all of the four legislatures. He was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour, by the Government of India in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Joshi was born on 2 December 1937 in the Marathi-speaking Brahmin family of Gajanan Krishna Joshi and Saraswati Gajanan in Nandavi of Raigad district in Maharashtra.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="MemProf">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He received his Masters of Arts and LLB degrees from Mumbai University.Template:Citation needed He married Anagha Joshi on 14 May 1964, with whom he had a son, Unmesh, and two daughters, Asmita and Namrata.<ref name="MemProf"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His granddaughter, Sharvari Wagh, made her debut as an actress with the 2021 film Bunty Aur Babli 2.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Formation of Kohinoor

Template:More citations needed section After receiving his MA in lawTemplate:Citation needed he joined Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as an officerTemplate:Citation needed, but later started the Kohinoor technical/vocational training instituteTemplate:Citation needed with the idea of an institute for semi–skilled youths to offer training as electricians, plumbers, TV/radio/scooter repairmen and photographersTemplate:Citation needed. Eventually, he started multiple branches of Kohinoor in MumbaiTemplate:Citation needed, Pune,Template:Citation needed NagpurTemplate:Citation needed, NashikTemplate:Citation needed, etc., and later he made an entry into construction and another capital-oriented business.Template:Citation needed

Manohar Joshi also founded the Kohinoor Business SchoolTemplate:Citation needed & Kohinoor-IMI School of Hospitality ManagementTemplate:Citation needed in Khandala, Maharashtra. Later on he took Chancellorship of Dnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Political career

Early years

Joshi began his career by being elected as a municipal councillor in Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1968 from the Shiv Sena.<ref name=expr>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1972 Joshi was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council,<ref name=expr/> where he served three terms until 1989.Template:Citation needed He became the Mayor of Mumbai during 1976 to 1977.Template:Citation needed He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from a Shiv Sena ticket in 1990.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Joshi with former BCCI vice-president Dnyaneshwar Agashe.

Chief Minister

Joshi became the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Maharashtra when the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition came to power in 1995.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Technically, Sharad Pawar led the first non-Congress government in Maharashtra in 1978Template:Citation needed as a member of Socialist Indian National Congress.Template:Citation needed

Controversy and resignation

Joshi and Bal Thackeray were explicitly named for inciting the Shivsainiks to violence against Muslims during the 1992–1993 riotsTemplate:Citation needed in an inquiry ordered by the government of India, the Srikrishna Commission Report.Template:Citation needed However, Joshi, then a part of the BJP-Sena government called the report "anti-Hindu, pro-Muslim and biased" and refused to adopt the commission's recommendations.<ref name="fln">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="narula99">Template:Cite book</ref>

As Chief Minister, he had permitted the release of a plot of land in Pune, reserved for a school, to a builder with ties to his son-in-law, Girish Vyas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A housing complex, named Sundew, was built on that land by Vyas in 1998. Sustained legal efforts by Vijay Kumbhar, an RTI activist from Pune,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> led to Joshi's resignation in January 1999. In March 2009, Bombay High Court passed a verdict calling the housing complex illegal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Supreme Court of India upheld the verdict in 2011 and fined Joshi Rs 15,000.Template:Citation needed Following its order, the building is now being used for a school.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lok Sabha and Speaker

Joshi was promoted to the Lok Sabha when he won in Central Mumbai in the 1999 General Elections.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> He was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2004 during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) administration.<ref name=":0" />

Joshi was elected for a six-year term to the Rajya Sabha on 20 March 2006<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> after being defeated in the previous Lok Sabha election in the Central Mumbai constituency.Template:Citation needed

National Legislator Conference

In September 2022, Manohar Joshi was appointed a key patron of NLC Bharat.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Death

Manohar Joshi died in Mumbai on 23 February 2024, at the age of 86.Template:Citation needed He had suffered a cardiac arrest a day earlier and been placed in Hinduja hospital's intensive care unitTemplate:Citation needed, dying the next day of age-related health complications.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Manohar Joshi ministry
• List of chief ministers of Maharashtra

External links

• May 8, 2002 news article "Manohar Joshi to be next LS speaker" – Times of India
• Photos from site of Speaker of Lok Sabha

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