Purushottam Das Tandon: Difference between revisions

'''Purushottam Das Tandon''' ({{audio|Purshottamdas Tandon.ogg|pronunciation}}; 1 August 1882 – 1 July 1962) was a [[Indian independence activist|freedom fighter]] from [[Prayagraj]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], India.  He is widely remembered for his [[opposition to the partition of India]], as well as efforts in achieving the  ''Official Language of India'' status for [[Hindi]].<ref name="Saraf2012"/> He was customarily given the title ''[[Rajarshi]]'' (etymology: Raja + Rishi = Royal Saint). He was popularly known as UP Gandhi. He was awarded the ''[[Bharat Ratna]]'', India's highest civilian award, in 1961.<ref name="bratna">{{cite web|title=Padma Awards Directory (1954–2007)|url=http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/PadmaAwards1954-2007.pdf|publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs|access-date=26 November 2010}}</ref>

Purushottam Das Tandon was born in [[Allahabad]] in a middle class [[Khatri]] family. <ref>{{Cite book|last=Puri|first=Baij Nath|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tXX1MAAACAAJ&newbks=0&hl=en&redir_esc=y|title=The Khatris, a Socio-cultural Study|date=1988|publisher=M.N. Publishers and Distributors|pages=137|language=en}}</ref> After obtaining a degree in law and an [[Master's degree|MA]] in history, he started practicing in 1906 and joined the bar of Allahabad [[High Courts of India|High Court]] in 1908 as a junior to [[Tej Bahadur Sapru]]. He gave up practice in 1921 to concentrate on public activities.

He was a member of [[Indian National Congress]] since his student days in 1899. In 1906, he represented Allahabad in the [[All India Congress Committee]]. He was associated with the Congress Party committee that studied the [[Amritsar Massacre|Jallianwala Bagh incident]] in 1919. In the 1920s and 1930s he was arrested for participating in the [[Non-Cooperation movement]] and [[Salt Satyagraha]] respectively. He and [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] were among the people arrested even before [[Mohandas K. Gandhi]] returned from the [[Round Table Conferences (India)|Round Table Conference]] at [[London]] in [[Round Table Conferences (India)#Second Round Table Conference (September 1931 – December 1931)|1931]]. He was known for his efforts in farmers' movements and he served as the President, [[Bihar]] Provincial Kisan Sabha in 1934. He also remained President of [[Servants of the People Society]] (Lok Sevak Mandal), a social service organisation founded by [[Lala Lajpat Rai]], in 1921.<ref name="Grover1993">{{cite book|last=Grover|first=Verinder|title=Political Thinkers of Modern India: Lala Lajpat Rai|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pls8YeINi1sC&pg=PA547|year=1993|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|isbn=978-81-7100-426-3|pages=547–}}</ref>

He worked as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]] for a period of 13 years, from 31 July 1937 to 10 August 1950.{{Citation needed|reason=Your explanation here|date=February 2019}} He was elected to the [[Constituent Assembly of India]] in 1946.