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G. S. Khaparde

(1854 -1938) – (Maharashtra)

Ganesh Srikrishna Khaparde (Aged 84) also known as Dadasaheb Khaparde, was an Indian lawyer, scholar, political activist, and devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba and saint Gajanan Maharaj. He was born on August 27, 1854. After earning his LLB in 1884, he served in Government service as a Munsiff and assistant commissioner at Berar until 1890 when he resigned to begin his own law practice at Amravati, where he became the chairman of the reception committee at the Amravati Congress in 1897.

Khaparde was associated with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and was closely involved in politics. He attended the Shivaji Festival of the Congress at Calcutta in 1906, associated with the “extremist” camp within the Congress led by Lal-Bal-Pal trio of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal. He was a founding member of Tilak’s Indian Home Rule League in 1916 and was a member of the Congress’s deputation to the Viceroy on constitutional reforms, with Vasukaka Joshi.

Khaparde traveled to England twice; first between 1908 and 1910, to conduct Tilak’s appeal to the Privy Council, and later between May 1919 and January 1920 as a delegate of the Home Rule League’s deputation to the Joint Parliamentary committee. During his seven-month stay in England, he made speeches and became popular for his wit, humor, and mannerisms, and was described by some newspapers as “Mark Twain.”

Between 1920 and 1925, Khaparde was elected a member of the Central Legislative Assembly. He passed away on July 1, 1938. Known as the Nawab of Berar, Khaparde’s strong and singular personal influence in the Central Provinces earned him the epithet.