Vasant Kumar Pandit

Vasant Kumar Pandit (1921-1987) was an Indian politician belonging to Bharatiya Jana Sangh, from Mumbai. Later he was part of Janata Party and Bharatiya Janata Party as the original Jana Sangh went through that phase. He was a Sanskrit scholar and astrologer. While he was from Maharashtra and represented Jana Sangh in Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad as MLC, he contested 3 Lok Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh in BJP strongholds in 1970s.[1]

The organizational posts held by him : Secretary, Bharatiya Jan Sangh; Bombay Unit 1953–66;
President, Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Bombay Unit, 1957–66,
President, Maharashtra State Jan Sangh, 1969–77;
Member, A.I.W.C. Bharatiya Jan Sangh for 2 years [2]

In 1971 Lok Sabha election, Jana Sangh fielded him from Betul in Madhya Pradesh but he lost to NKP Salve of Congress.[3] He was elected to Lok Sabha from Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh in 1977 on Janata Party's ticket. He won re-election from there in 1980. He joined Bharatiya Janata Party in April 1980 when Janata party split.

A scholarly person, he was associated with Bhandarkar Oriental Institute in Pune, Bharatiya Sangeet Samsad, Indo-Israel League for 10 years, and Prince of Wales Museum for 3 years, among his many social activities.[2] He was Professor of Sanskrit at Wilson College in Mumbai. He used to take the oath of membership of Lok Sabha in Sanskrit language. As for his association with astrology, BJP leader L K Advani has recounted how Shri Pandit accurately predicted a period in the wildnerness for his party in 1975-76 just when things were actually looking promising for them. [4]

Vasant Kumar Pandit was born on 5 June 1921 to Ramkrishna Pandit. He died on 25 September 1987. In September 2012, he was fondly remembered on his 25th death anniversary by the social organization Pradarshan Gallery.[5]

References
  1. https://m.economictimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/party-chief-was-hesitant-to-say-no-to-me-so-i-opted-out-on-my-own-sumitra-mahajan/articleshow/69243701.cms
  2. "Members Bioprofile". nic.in. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  3. https://www.elections.in/parliamentary-constituencies/1971-election-results.html
  4. https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/advani-whoever-forms-the-govt-doesnt-hesitate-in-committing-excesses-even-some-of-our-people/20150624.htm
  5. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Vasantkumar-Pandit/articleshow/16529237.cms
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