Hari Shankar Tiwari was an Indian gangster-turned-politician and social activist who served six terms as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and was a cabinet minister in the Uttar Pradesh government under five different chief ministers. He had a political career spanning more than 5 decades and worked with various popular politicians including Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mulayam Singh Yadav. He is known as a politician who had a strong base in the Brahmin community of eastern Uttar Pradesh, especially in Gorakhpur.
Wiki/Biography
Hari Shankar Tiwari was born in Tanda village, Chilupar, Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India (then United Provinces, British India). According to one source, he was born on Saturday, August 5, 1933 (age 89; at the time of death), and according to another source, he was born on Monday, August 5, 1935 (age 87; at the time of death). His zodiac sign was Leo. He finished his studies at the village school. He later studied at Gorakhpur University till 1961 for Master of Arts degree. In 1984, he registered for the degree of Doctor of Sociology; However, he never finished.
Photo collage by Hari Shankar Tiwari
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 9″
Weight (approx): 70 kg
Hair color: salt and pepper
Eye Color: Black
family
He was born in a Hindu Brahmin family.
parents and siblings
Father’s name was Bhola Nath who was a priest in his village. He had 2 younger brothers named Shiv Shankar Tiwari who died in 2018 at the age of 83 and Kishan Shankar Tiwari.
wife and children
His wife’s name was Ramlali Devi. She has two sons named Bheeshma Shankar Tiwar alias Kushal Tiwar and Vinay Shankar Tiwar and a daughter. Both his sons are politicians and have served as MPs and MLAs.
Hari Shankar Tiwari’s elder son Bheeshma Shankar Tiwari, Akhilesh Yadav, his nephew Ganesh Shankar Pandey and his younger son Vinay Shankar Tiwari (right to left)
other relatives
His daughter-in-law (Vinai Shankar Tiwari’s wife) name is Rita Tiwari. He has a nephew named Ganesh Shankar Pandey who is also a politician.
Career
Early days in politics
Hari Shankar Tiwari was active in student politics at Gorakhpur University. On August 30, 1979, when Kaurya MLA of the Janta Party, Ravindra Singh, was killed, Hari Shankar Tiwari’s name was registered in the FIR. His group later began competing for railroad scrap contracts and earned money to buy weapons.
Hari Shankar Tiwari during the court hearing
He later competed with the Rajput Virendra Pratap Shahi for control of Gorakhpur. It is also believed that Surti Narayan Mani Tripathi, also known as SNM Tripathi or Pandit Tripathi, wanted to reduce the dominance of the Gorakhnath Math and helped Tiwar to open a hatha (courtyard) in his house and help the local people as the Math did.
Hari Shankar Tiwari with PV Narasimha Rao
This led to an enmity between Gorakhnath Math and Tiwari that lasted throughout his life. When Yogi Adityanath became the head of the Gorakhnath Math, he became the leader of the Rajputs and Tiwari became the leader of the Brahmins.
Hari Shankar Tiwari during a political function
Rise up as a local leader
In 1985, while still in jail, he contested the election from Chilupar constituency as an independent candidate and defeated Congress representative Markendayanand by 21,728 votes. It was the first time in Indian history that a candidate won an election in this style.
Hari Shankar Tiwari speaks at a public rally
Hari Shankar Tiwari is widely believed to have given political protection to many gangsters, including Sri Prakash Shukla and Amarmani Tripathi. Shri Prakash Shukla assassinated Hari Shankar’s main political rival, Virendra Pratap Shah, in 1997 in Lucknow.
Hari Shankar Tiwari (left) in his early years as a politician
Loyalty of different parties
Before Hari Shankar won his first election as an independent candidate, he joined the Indian National Congress and formed a very close friendship with the Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.
Hari Shankar Tiwari with Rajiv Gandhi
He later broke away from the Congress and joined the Indian Indira Congress (Tiwari) led by ND Tiwari. He later formed his own political party in October 1997 along with Jagdambika Pal, Rajeev Shukla, Shyam Sunder Sharma and Bacha Pathak and named it Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress.
Hari Shankar Tiwari submitted his nomination in the 1980s
He became the Transport Minister between 1997 and 1999 in the Kalyan Singh government (BJP).
Hari Shankar Tiwari with Atal Bihari Vajpayee
He became the Cabinet Minister for Stamps and Registration in the Ram Prakash Gupta Government of Uttar Pradesh (BJP) in 2000.
Hari Shankar Tiwari speaking at a government function
He became Minister of Science and Technology in Rajnath Singh’s BJP Uttar Pradesh Cabinet in 2001. He also served as a cabinet minister in Mayawati’s BSP government in 2002 and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s SP government in 2003. He won six consecutive legislative elections by a margin of 19,085 to 2.
Hari Shankar Tiwari interacts with the public
fall
His political downfall began in 2007 when he lost the legislative election for the Chilupar seat in the 2007 election to Rajesh Tripathi. She again lost the seat to him in the 2012 legislative elections. After the defeat, he left active politics and never ran for election again; However, he continued to exert his influence in the area.
Hari Shankar Tiwari during the show
confrontations
Gangster influence
Allegedly, Hari Shankar Tiwari supported local goons and gangsters and used them to take revenge on various people. More than 35 cases have been registered against him for murder and hooliganism under the Anti-Terrorism Act, the National Security Act and the Gangster (Prevention) Act; However, he was not convicted in any case.
Hari Shankar Tiwari with his supporters
Protest against Yogi Adityanath
In April 2017, when Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, a police team raided his house in search of a robbery suspect. The police team did not have a court order to raid his house. It was the first time the police entered his home. His supporters protested against the local administration in the streets of Gorakhpur. Tiwari himself said that Yogi was trying to harass him because of an old enmity.
Hari Shankar Tiwari in the 80s
death
On May 16, 2023, at 7:30 PM, he felt unwell and died at his residence in Gorakhpur’s Dharamshala area. He was suffering from kidney and heart problems for the last 2-3 years. According to one source, he died at the age of 87, and according to another source, he died at the age of 89. His body was taken to Tanda, his ancestral village, where his followers paid their last respects. After his death, many people, including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav, paid tribute to him on Twitter.
The funeral procession of Hari Shankar Tiwari was held in Gorakhpur
Facts/Trivia
- He was a follower of Pandit Acharya Shri Ram Sharma and recited the Gayatri Mantra daily.
- He is regarded as the first gangster-turned-politician in Uttar Pradesh, as he was the first person in India to win an election from prison.
- His followers fondly called him ‘Purvanchal Ka Sher’.
Hari Shankar Tiwari playing with a dog
Categories: Politics
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
