Independence and Participation in Government
On 15 August 1947, 22 big and small princely States of Rajasthan(erstwhile Rajputana) agreed to join Union of India. Their merger and unification took place in a phased manner over a period of 2 years.
In the first phase, four Princely States of Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karauli formed the Matsya Union. On 25 March 1948, Union of Rajasthan was formed comprising Banswara, Bundi, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Kishangarh, Pratapgarh, Shahapura, Tonk, and Kota. Three days after formation of Union of Rajasthan, Maharana of Udaipur decided to join Union of Rajasthan on 28 March 1948. It was formally inaugurated by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on 18 April 1948 and cabinet was formed under the leadership of Manikya Lal Verma. Mohan Lal Sukhadia joined the cabinet as Irrigation and Labor Minister.
In the fourth phase, states of Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jaipur and Jodhpur merged with Union of Rajasthan. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel inaugurated unified Rajasthan on 30 March 1949 and Shri Heera Lal Shastri formed the cabinet to become first Chief Minister of Rajasthan. On 15 May 1949, Matsya Union also merged with Rajasthan.
After Heera Lal Shasrti resigned from the post on 26 March 1951, Jai Narayan Vyas took over his post. Sukhadia was appointed as minister in newly created cabinet.
First state Legislative elections of Rajasthan were held in 1952. Tika Ram Paliwal became Chief Minister on 3 March 1952 for a brief period of time. Jai Narayan Vyas replaced him on 1 November 1952. Sukhadia handled Revenue, Irrigation, Agriculture and other significant portfolios during this period.
After elections in 1952, 22 members of Ram Rajya Parishad joined Congress Party on persuasion of Jai Narayan Vyas. However, congress workers objected to his decision as most of the Ram Rajya Parishad members were former zamirdars and believed this would affect ongoing land reforms in the state. Amidst growing resentment against Jai Narayan Vyas, Congress High command directed him to seek Vote of Confidence of Congress legislative members.
Veteran Jai Narayan Vyas was directly pitched against the 38 year-old Revenue Minister of his own cabinet, Shri Mohan Lal Sukhadia. First time in history of Democratic India, two people were openly contesting for post of Chief Minister. Sukhadia defeated him by 8 votes to become youngest Chief Minister of India. He continued on this post for record making 17 years(13 Nov 1954 - 8 Jul 1971). His record of longest-serving Chief Minister in Indian political history was untouched until Jyoti Basu surpassed it in 1994.
Read more about this topic: Mohan Lal Sukhadia
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