IT IS not easy to believe that one who could achieve so much in so few years of his life is no more. Shrikant Jichkar was such an enlightened leader, full of zest for life with the melody of knowledge oozing from every word that he uttered. Recently he had fought for the Lok Sabha elections but lost. Undaunted, with a smiling face he was engaged in working for the Congress Party.
Now he is no more! This sour truth will continue to remind us of the humble educationist and eminent state leader who on June 2, 2004, died in a major road accident. He had gone to attend a wedding and while returning, his car collided with a bus of the Maharashtra State Transport Company.
Whatever is heard about Shrikant Jichkar today no longer appears to be real. We have heard of many excelling in the field of science, literature or art at a very young age but we have not so far heard that a youth could achieve eminence not only in different fields of education, but also, after joining the Indian Police Service, the Indian Administrative Service, leave it all to earn fame in politics. Shrikant Jichkar was blessed with such an outstanding personality.
Dr Shrikant Ramachandra Jichkar was a gold medallist from Nagpur University and was leader of the Students? Union. In 1983 he was honoured as one of the ten outstanding youth. In the Limca Book of Records, his name has been entered as the most capable person. At a very young age he became a minister and in 1992 was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He had a personal library of 42,000 books and had written books on economy, public funds, etc. What satisfied him most was waxing eloquent on Ramayana, the Gita and the Vedas. He hailed from a family of farmers and came from a backward com-munity of Maharashtra. But he had explicit belief and faith in the Bhagwad Gita and could recite it verbally.
Jichkar was the Managing Editor of Nagpur Times and Nagpur Patrika. He had deep faith in Smt. Indira Gandhi'spolitics. After Indira Gandhi, he reposed his faith in Rajiv Gandhi. His untimely death has left a void in the world of learning. At the same time he had deep love for the work of Rasthriya Swayamsevak Sangh and was deeply interested in the uplift of Hindu society. He had may friends in the BJP and other parties.
