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Sunday, April 5, 2026
HomeForgotten Founders

Forgotten Founders

Balkrishna Sharma: A freedom fighter & poet admired by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Balkrishna Sharma campaigned vigorously for Hindi to be declared a national language of India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1960.

Lokanath Misra: Politician who opposed freedom to propagate religion as fundamental right

Lokanath Misra served as governor of three 3 northeastern states. As member of the Constituent Assembly, he highlighted need to protect Hindu culture & religion.

VT Krishnamachari: India’s master planner who laid the foundation of panchayati raj system

A civil servant, Krishnamachari donned many hats in pre- and post-Independent India, with the most notable being his stint at the Planning Commission.

Algu Rai Shastri: The socialist who vociferously denounced English as a foreign language

Algu Rai Shastri, a member of the Constituent Assembly, was against forced religious conversions and known for denouncing views of religious minorities.

Durgabai Deshmukh: The brave woman from Andhra who ended her own child marriage

Durgabai Deshmukh, one of 15 women in the 299-member Constituent Assembly, was a feisty individual who studied law to help the wrongfully convicted.

Sardar Hukam Singh, a minority rights champion in Constituent Assembly

Sardar Hukam Singh, who served in first three Lok Sabhas, refused to sign draft of the constitution as he felt it failed to secure...

The Kerala governor who openly pushed Indira’s case for PM

Ajith Prasad Jain also served in a Nehru Cabinet and backed the abolition of the zamindari system.

Gokulbhai Bhatt, the Constituent Assembly member who called the Constitution ‘un-Indian’

Gokulbhai Bhatt, who quit college to join the non-cooperation movement, was a staunch proponent of the Gandhian Panchayati Raj.

Muhammad Ismail, Indian Muslim League pioneer who wanted Hindustani as official language

During Constituent Assembly debates, Ismail pushed for Hindustani because it was the most spoken and understood language in India.

Hiralal Shastri, the man who pushed for equal rights within Constituent Assembly

The first chief minister of Rajasthan, Shastri also co-founded the all-women Banasthali Vidyapith.

On Camera

Should you pick your partner from the airport? It can be the ultimate gesture or a lovebomb

Imagine someone came to pick you up at Bengaluru airport. Spend more than two hours in traffic to see you? And pay for a cab both ways? There’s no bigger confession of love.

SEBI proposes return of open market share buybacks to support stocks

Regulator seeks feedback on allowing firms to repurchase shares via exchanges after tax changes, as markets reel from war-led selloff and foreign outflows.

South Korea’s Cheongung-II missile system makes its mark in West Asia war. Here’s why

UAE has been using this defence system, which is similar to America's Patriots, against Iranian missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

China insulated itself against energy shocks. India is ‘all talk, no walk’

China patiently invested capital, skill and technology in coal gasification. Unlike it, we won’t move from words to action. As crude prices decline, we lose interest.