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‘Mathur was wedded to party ideology and programmes’

Special Correspondent

Shiv Charan Mathur

JAIPUR: The offices of the Rajasthan Government are closed for three days this weekend as a mark of respect to Assam Governor and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Shiv Charan Mathur who died of a heart attack in a Delhi hospital on Thursday evening. The Rajasthan Government has announced three-day mourning in the State.

“Mr. Mathur was among the leaders of the older generation who were wedded to party ideology and programmes for a lifetime. His passing away is a big loss to Rajasthan. He had a good grip over administrative matters and possessed a grasp over inter-State issues,” said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in a condolence statement over the weekend.

“His life will continue inspiring us,” he added.

Mr. Gehlot presided over a meeting of the State Cabinet which was convened to pay homage to the departed leader.

Born in Madi Kanungo village in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh on February 14, 1926, Shiv Charan Mathur moved to neighbouring Rajasthan with his maternal grandfather. Initially living with his grandfather in Karauli, he started working among the Bheels in Udaipur before he made Bhilwara his area of activity in the post-Independence era.

Dushyant Ojha, veteran Communist leader and personal friend of Mr. Mathur, remembers that Jawaharlal Nehru was present at Mr. Mathur’s marriage with senior Congress leader Manikya Lal Verma’s daughter Sushila.

“Both Shiv Charan Mathur and Sushila were volunteers of the Students Volunteer Corps.

“I vividly remember even now how Maniklal Verma, the leader of the Praja Mandal, requested Pandit Nehru, who was in Udaipur in December 1945 to participate in the All-India Indian States People’s Conference, to spare a few minutes to solemnise the marriage of the two, both of whom were heading the boys’ and girls’ wing of the Student Volunteer corps respectively,” Mr. Ojha notes.

“Shiv Charan Mathur was made the first general secretary of the Rajputana Student Congress which was founded on the occasion,” recalls Mr. Ojha. One of the strong points of Mr. Mathur, twice Chief Minister of Rajasthan (from July 14, 1981, to February 23, 1985, and from January 20, 1988, to December 4, 1989) was his ideological base and administrative acumen. He had his own setbacks but he survived them. The first was during his tenure as Chief Minister when the police gunned down former ruler Man Singh of Deeg in Bharatpur during an election campaign leading to an outcry the world over.

The second time he faltered—this time for the sake of ideology—when he had left the mainstream Congress to join the All-India Indira Congress (Tiwari Congress).

During the previous Gehlot regime in the State Mr. Mathur had headed the State Administrative Reforms Commission which came out with a series of recommendations on development of the State and good governance.

Mr. Mathur also might be remembered as one of the few politicians in the country who founded a think tank—Social Policy Research Institute—and ran it successfully even when the Congress was out of power.

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