My Times

Jiwantram Bhagwandas Kriplani or Acharya Kriplani, as he was better known, was one of the major figures in the Congress prior to the Indian independence. His life spanned almost a century - as a young man, he saw the rise of Mahatma Gandhi to the centrestage of Indian politics and in his waning years he was witness to the Emergency.

Jiwantaram Bhagwandas Kripalani or Acharya Kripalani, as he was better known, was one of the major figures in the Congress prior to the Indian independence. His life spanned almost a century - as a young man, he saw the rise of Mahatma Gandhi to the centrestage of Indian politics and in his waning years he was witness to the Emergency. Acharya Kripalani was born in Hyderabad [Sind, in Pakistan], studied in Bombay and Pune and taught at Muzaffarpur College in Bihar and Bansras Hindu University for a brief period. But it was during his stint as the Principal of Gujarat Vidyapeeth, he became fully engrosed in Gandhiji's constructive programme and in work related to the Indian National Congress. In 1934, Kripalani became the general secretary of the Congress, a post he hel