N B Khare

Early Life

N. B. Khare was born on 19 March 1884 at Panvel. After completing his high school education at the Maratha High School, Bombay he joined the Government College at Jubbulpur. He then studied at the Medical College, Lahore and completed his graduation rewarded with a gold medal for surgery. He then set up a private medical practice.

Role in India’s Independence Movement

Khare had an active political life. He was a member of Indian National Congress (1916 to 1938) and a member of the All-India Congress Committee. He served as the President of Central Provinces Provincial Congress Committee and Harijan Sewak Sangh, Nagpur – a voluntary organisation focusing on the welfare of the Dalit community. In 1926 he founded and served as an editor of a Marathi paper Tarun Bharat which was primarily the mouthpiece for the Congress Party.

Khare was a member of the Central Province Legislative Council. He resigned from the office in 1929. In 1930, he was imprisoned for his participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Khare served as an MLA of the Central Province for two terms (1935 to 1943).

Khare was the first Premier of the erstwhile State of Central Province and he occupied the office from 1937 to 1938. He started a Capital Punishment Relief Society for prisoners who were on death row for killing policemen during the Quit India movement in 1942.

He was in charge of the Commonwealth Relations Department while he served as a member in the Viceroy’s Executive Council. He became the Prime Minister for the erstwhile Alwar State in 1947 and is alleged to have pursued anti-muslim policies during his tenure.

Contribution to Constitution Making

Khare represented the Princely State of Alwar in the Constituent Assembly. He resigned from the Assembly in 1948.

Contributions Post-Independence

Khare joined the Hindu Mahasabha in 1949 and served as its President (1949 to 1951). Later, in 1954, he served as the Vice-President of the All-India Hindu Mahasabha.

He passed away in 1970 at Nagpur.

Key Writings

Some of Khare’s wiritng include: My Defence, Speeches and Statements of Dr. N. B. Khare, Biography in Marathi—Vol. I, published in 1943 and Vol. II in 1950.