Dayanand Bandodkar

Dayanand Balkrishna "Bhausaheb" Bandodkar (12 March 1911 – 12 August 1973) was an Indian politician who served as the first Chief Minister of Goa, Daman and Diu, holding the office from 1963 to 1973, with a gap of President's rule in late 1966. Born in Pernem to a Marathi family who had immigrated from Tuljapur in British India, he became a wealthy mine owner following the annexation of Goa. He unsuccessfully sought to merge the union territory of Goa with the state of Maharashtra. Bandodkar won the polls in 1963, 1967 and in 1972 while representing the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and remained in power until his death in 1973.

Early life and education Dayanand Bandodkar was born on 12 March 1911 in Pernem to Balkrishna and Shrimati. He completed his primary education in Marathi at Mapusa and later pursued his school-level education in Portuguese at Panaji, but he did not complete it. He looked after his family's business interests, and eventually established himself as a mine owner following the Indian annexation of Goa. Bandodkar was a member of the Gomantak Maratha Samaj.

Political career Entry into politics and first term (1942–1966) Bandodkar entered the political arena by participating in the Quit India Movement in 1942. In his youth, he was influenced by the ideology of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, which inspired him to organize young people and work toward social awakening in Goa. During the Goan independence movement, he provided assistance to underground activists and made efforts to establish Marathi-medium schools in rural areas. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India then offered him two options: To retain Goa's current status as a union territory. To merge Goa into the neighboring state of Maharashtra and the other erstwhile Portuguese enclaves of Daman and Diu into the neighbouring state of Gujarat.

A law to conduct a referendum to decide the issue of merger or otherwise of Goa, Daman and Diu with Maharashtra/Gujarat was passed by both the houses of the Indian Parliament, the Lok Sabha (on 1 December 1966), and the Rajya Sabha (on 7 December 1966) and the same received the assent of the President of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on 16 December 1966. An opinion poll was subsequently held on 16 January 1967 to decide the fate of the union territory which voted to retain its separate status by 34,021 votes.

In the subsequent legislative elections held in April 1967, Bandodkar contested as an MGP candidate and was elected by a majority, assuming office as the Chief Minister of Goa for a second term. and was succeeded by his eldest daughter Shashikala Kakodkar. His only son Siddharth married the actress Leena Chandavarkar on 8 December 1975, but died at the age of 25, on 7 November 1976 due to a gunshot wound he had received on 18 December 1975.

Legacy