G. S. Khaparde

Who was G. S. Khaparde?

Ganesh Srikrishna Khaparde was a renowned Indian lawyer, scholar, political activist and a noted devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba and saint Gajanan Maharaj.

Born at Ingroli in Berar, Khaparde studied Sanskrit and English Literature before beginning law. He graduated with an LLB in 1884, which led him to Government service. He served as a Munsiff and an assistant commissioner at Berar between 1885 to 1890. Closely associated with Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he took a keen interest in politics and in 1890 resigned from service to begin his own law practice at Amrawati. Khaparde was the chairman of the reception committee at the Amarawati Congress in 1897. He attended, along with Tilak, the Shivaji Festival of the Congress at Calcutta in 1906. He was at this time associated with the "extremist" camp within the Congress, led by Lal-Bal-Pal trio of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal. A close ally and one of the most trusted lieutanants of Tilak, Khaparde's strong and singular personal influence in the Central Provinces earned him the epitaph of "the Nawab of Berar". Between 1908 and 1910, Khaparde travelled to England to conduct Tilak's appeal to the Privy Council. Intelligence reports indicate that along with Bipin Chandra Pal, he was at this time associated with the India House.