Dave — A man passionate about river conservation

The Environment Minister, who passed away on Thursday, was involved in social work right from his early days and founded the ‘Narmada Samagra’ .

Anil Madhav Dave

An expert in river conservation and a member of the parliamentary forum on global warming, environment was a subject close to the heart of Anil Madhav Dave, who died in the early hours of Thursday.

Dave, who was appointed Environment Minister only last year. was involved in social work right from his early days and founded NGO “Narmada Samagra” for conservation of the river.

A two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh, Dave was known in the BJP circles as a man gifted with immaculate organisational skills.

He had a long time association with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and shot into prominence in 2003 when he crafted the strategy leading to the defeat of Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh.

Following this, Uma Bharti who became the Chief Minister, made him her Advisor.

As an NCC Air Wing Cadet, he took his early flying lessons and found a lifetime passion. He was a holder of a private pilot licence and had once flown a Cessna aircraft around the banks of Narmada for 18 hours.

A post-graduate in Commerce from Gujarati College in Indore, Dave had keen interest in literature and had penned a number of books.

Dave was born to Pushpa and Madhav Dave at Barnagar, district Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on July 6, 1956.

He inherited the legacy of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh from his grandfather Dadasaheb Dave and volunteered to be a Pracharak fter completing higher studies.

He rose in the Sangh echelons over the years and was deputed to the BJP, right before the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections in 2003.

The leader from Madhya Pradesh was key party strategist and served as chief of its election management committee for the three times during the state Assembly elections in 2003, 2008 and 2013 and Lok Sabha elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014.

He was known for his booth-level management and planning.

Dave was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2009 and has been on various committees including Chairman, Select Committee on Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2013.

Dave had also organised the World Hindi Conference in Bhopal and an international conference on the occasion of Simhastha (Kumbh) Mela in Ujjain.