HISTORY

BRITISH PERIOD

After the annexation of the Kingdom of the Bhosles, Resident Mansel was appointed as the first Commissioner of Nagpur-Wardha region on 13 March 1854. The Central Provinces were formed into a new unit in 1861. They comprised Nagpur, Chandrapur, Bhandara, Chhin-dawada, Raipur i.e., Chhattisgad and Sironcha, together with their dependencies of Bastar and Kuronda. All these formed the Nagpur Territory. Sagar, Damoh, Jabalpur, Mandla, Seoni, Baitul, Narsingpur and Hushangabad formed the Sagar-Narmada Territories.

It is obvious that Nagpur then extended upto the Wardha River including the present district of Wardha. As already observed the territory upto the western bank of the Wardha River was granted by the British to their friend the Nizam in the Treaty of Devgaon in 1803. This region was annexed in 1853 by Dalhousie as the Nizam had failed to pay the amount for the maintenance of the Subsidiary force. Berar was then divided into the northern and the southern Berar. The southern Berar was returned to the Nizam for the help he rendered to the British in 1857-58. [ HFM. pp. 109-112.] This was rejoined to the Central Provinces in 1903. This arrangement remained unchanged till the redemarcation of the provinces by the States Reorganization Commission.

In the post-Mutiny period consternation spread throughout the country due to the repression of the British Government. A number of innocent persons were hanged after a summary trial. On many occasions villages were set on fire on the suspicion that some villager had participated in the Revolt. Such acts were intended to strike terror into the heart of the populace. Nagpur and Wardha were saved from these atrocities because of the loyalty of the Bhosle house under Bakabai, to the British Government. It is well-known that Bakabai discouraged any rising against the Company's Government within her jurisdiction. The repressive measures bred hatred in the hearts of the subjects for the rulers.

By the Arms Act of 1857 the people of Berar like their brethren in the entire country were deprived of their arms. It was renewed in 1860 and was finally enacted into the Arms Act of 1878. The new Act introduced licence system for fire arms throughout the country imposing heavy import duty. Penalties for the violation of the Act were heavy and were enforced very stringently.

Armies were reorganized on tribal, sectarian, religious and communal basis. The caste and communal differences that existed were fully exploited by the British for stabilising their rule. Races were labled as martial and non-martial with a view to excluding those who had participated in the Revolt of 1857. In modern times it has been proved beyond doubt that any one who is physically fit is militant after due training.

The new police force in the Central Provinces including that of Berar was placed under the control of the Regular Police. The old local police having affinity for the villagers was done away with. Immediately after 1857 the aim of the British was to create an efficient administrative instrument isolated from the public and loyal to the Government. [HFM. p. 124.]

As a further part of the policy of divide and rule, the Muslims came to be looked upon as the chosen people of the Government to suppress the patriotic activities of the Hindus. The efforts of Sir Syed Ahmad soon bore fruit. The Muslim population in the Central Provinces and the Berar was negligible. Yet more than fifty per cent of the offices and nearly the same percentage of posts in the police force were given to them. [ HFM. p. 125.] The policy of the British to set the Hindus against the Muslims became a permanent feature of their administration till it finally resulted in the partition of the country. In this regard the blunt question put by the Berar Mitra in its issue of 8 July, 1879 is significant. It asked, "Why is it that only Musalmans are appointed Tahasildars these days. [ HFM. p. 236.]

In 1861 the entire Nagpur Irregular force was recruited in the police. The police were trained to behave rudely with the public. The rank and file of the police was drawn from such section as had no character in the past. This naturally led to corruption and abuse of power in the police force. In this regard the remarks of Sir Richard Temple, the Chief Commissioner (1864-65) are worth noting. He says, "service in the police has always been unpopular with the natives of the superior stamp, and men of character avoided entering it. Men of ability rarely entered it except with the intention of making a colourful fortune within a short time, risking the chance of such detection as would lead to personal punishment, but quite prepared for dismissal. [ HFM. p. 126.]

In the light of the analysis of the causes of the Revolt of 1857, Dal-housie's policy of annexation of the Native States was reversed. The States were protected and in course of time they were found to be the most loyal supporters of the British Government, till their merger in the post-Independence period. The Zamindars and the Malguzars in Nagpur and Wardha were given full proprietary rights in their villages. This was absolutely against the ancient Hindu tradition which did not recognize private ownership in land. In the pre-British period the landlords were revenue farmers or managers. When endowed with proprietary rights in land, a majority of them became subservient to the alien British Government, taking upon themselves the hated job of revenue collection. The revenue assessment of Wardha as of the other parts of the Berar was enhanced when it was taken from the Bhosles. Thus, the States-the Rajas-who were supposed to protect the interest of the subjects were alienated from the latter, and the newly created class of Zamindars came to be hated by the people.

To add to this, the activities of the Christian missionaries further divided the society both vertically and horizontally.

Within less than a hundred years of British rule the native economy was killed in the interest of Britain. Nagpur-Wardha region fell a prey to this general economic devastation. Its cotton and silk industries which were built by the Bhosles having demand in Egypt and Europe suffered a death blow. Like all other Indian goods they could not stand competition from the machine made cloth imported duty free. [ HFM. pp. 170-171.]

Wardha-a separate District.

In 1861 it was decided to create a new district by dividing Nagpur, with a view to encouraging cotton industry of the western part of Nagpur suitable for its growth. Wardha valley growing cotton could not be conveniently supervised from Nagpur. Wardha as a separate district came into being in 1863. The seat of the newly formed district was first located at Kotha near Pulgaon, but in 1866 it was shifted to its present site. Wardha was named after the Wardha River. The entire region of the river was once called Wardhatata. The new district capital was built on the site of a hamlet known as Palakwadi. The old folk still use this name for Wardha.

The River Dham flowing four to five miles from the city feeds its water supply. Of the four districts of eastern Berar Wardha is the smallest.

Wardha was created in order to encourage its cotton industry. In course of time this original purpose was well fulfilled. Wardha proper has several gins. Its tahsils Arvi and Hinganghat too have gins and cotton mills. [ T. N. Joshi, The Commercial And General Directory of C. P. and Berar, 1949; pp. 142-3.]

With the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway line joining Delhi with Madras, passing through Wardha, its importance grew.

Wardha from 1885 to the end of Tilak Era.

Like the rest of Berar, Wardha reacted sharply to the oppressive Vernacular Press Act, the heavy debt of the Second Afghan War on Indian treasury and the lowering of the age limit for Indians appearing for the Indian Civil Service. The opening of the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh created communal bitterness throughout Vidarbha.

When Vasudeo Balvant Phadke the first revolutionary was transported for life to distant Aden having failed to overthrow the British raj, the people of Wardha were moved. Wardha, like the whole of Berar, was quick in receiving new ideas from Pune. Both the provinces having common bonds of language and history came together in the wake of nationalism. On the pattern of the Sarvajanik Sabha of Pune the Loka Sabha was founded at Nagpur with its branches at Wardha and elsewhere. The educated well-to-do middle class formed the back-bone of all the political movements of Wardha in the early period. It is unjust to label it now as the white-collared or bourgeoisie. Historically viewed one must accept that national awakening in Berar and the western Maharashtra percolated down to the masses from the classes.

A number of persons from Berar represented in the Second Session of the Congress meeting at Calcutta. Most of them were either from Nagpur, Amravati or Akola.

Following the visit of Swami Dayanand Saraswati to Nagpur in 1884, the Gorakshana Sabha was founded in the city in 1888 with its branches in the rest of Berar. The Sabha soon assumed all India importance with the membership of prominent leaders like Lokamanya Tilak, Malaviya and D. M. Petit. [HFM. pp. 174-5.]

The Seventh Session of the All India National Congress was held in Nagpur in 1891. Out of the total 3812 members attending it, 480 were from Vidarbha. Among other things the meeting discussed the Second Afghan War and the Forest Laws. The latter had deprived the people of their common village pasture. Wardha then had good forest area. The Nagpur Session gave a new fillip to the national movement in Vidarbha. [HFM. pp. 181-84.]

Towards the end of the nineteenth century the great plague followed by a severe famine ravaged the whole of Maharashtra. During the troubled years of plague Mr. Rand and Lt. Ayerst were murdered. Soon Lokamanya Tilak was sentenced to eighteen months rigorous imprisonment. Wardha was moved by this act of the Government. In the Congress Session held at Amravati, Dadasheb Khaparde referred to both the plague and the great famine. The meeting was attended by Wardha representatives. [ HFM. p. 192.]

The Berar Samachar was actively propagating the Swadeshi movement in 1896-97. Wardha participated in the Swadeshi and boycott activities. When the Lokamanya toured Wardha for the Swaraj Fund the people offered their own contribution. The Swaraj Fund amounted to Rs. 1,10,000. [HFM. p. 279.] Later the news of Lokamanya Tilak's deportation to Mandalay created sensation in Wardha and the boycott movement gathered momentum.

In 1918 Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal were prevented from entering Delhi and the Punjab. This was considered as the measure of the Defence of India Act by the Government. In protest of this a meeting was held at Wardha.

With a view to spreading political awakening District Political meetings were regularly held at the District headquarters. In one such meeting held at Wardha in 1918, the people demanded Swaraj and National Education. Again in 1919 a meeting was held in protest of the Rowlatt Bill. [ HFM. p. 285.]

Till the passing away of Lokamanya Tilak on 1st August 1920, Wardha was alive to all problems of national awakening and actively participated in them.

The Gandhian Era.

Between 1906 and 1914 Gandhiji had attracted the attention of Indian Political Leaders by his peaceful resistance to injustice in South Africa. He was successful in getting abolished the most hated Asiatic Act and the discriminatory treatment meted out to the Indian immigrants there. His activities in Africa were heartily blessed by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. On his return to India in 1914 he was hailed as the votary of satya and ahimsa. Inspite of his bitter experience of the British rule in Africa he expressed full faith in the justice of England and advised his countrymen to offer unconditional help to the British during the First World War. But the hollowness of the proclamation during the War that responsible Government would be introduced in India, the disappointing Mont-ford Reforms, the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy of 1919, in mounting succession, convinced him that the British Government was satanic. In the Khilafat Conference of November 1919 Gandhiji expounded his policy of non-co-operation with Government as a political weapon. This was largely supported in the Congress Session that followed. [ HFM. p. 291.] However, Congress stalwarts like Lokamanya Tilak, C.R. Das and Moti Lal Nehru had misgivings regarding the Gandhian ways and programme. Mrs. Annie Besant was against his Satyagraha movement, and the Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy resulted in her exit from the Congress and politics. [ Ibid, p. 288.]

With Tilak's death on 1st August, 1920, India lost a great scholar and fearless leader of exceptional abilities. The death of the " Father of Indian Unrest" was mourned throughout the country. Wardha people paid their homage to Tilak in a meeting. The era of vigorous extremists in the Congress may be said to have ended with the passing away of Lokamanya Tilak.

The special Congress Session which met at Calcutta in September 1920 marks a turning point in Indian Politics. Gandhijis resolutions on Hindu-Muslim unity and the policy of non-violent non-co-operation for the attainment of Swaraj were passed by the Session, though Bipin Chandra Pal and C.R. Das strongly opposed them considering them to be disadvantageous to the country. The Nagpur Session of the Congress which met at the end of 1920 firmly established Gandhian leadership in India. His philosophy and method received a clear support. His progressive policy of non-co-operation and boycott actually outstripped the extremists.

On the eve of the Nagpur Session opposition members had expressed their disapproval of the policy and principle of non-co-operation. They thought the movement would do more harm than good to the country. Before the Congress Session met Dadasaheb Khaparde published a memorandum pointing out how Gandhiji's resolution sought to divert the energies of the Congress in attaining spiritual force and moral excellence to the neglect of immediate political objectives. He further thought that boycotting the Councils would result in the loss of contact with the de facto Government ulitmately depriving the people of the practical training ground for political struggle. It would not be far from truth if one states that this opinion was largely shared by the intellectuals of Nagpur.

In addition to the non-violent non-co-operation programme for the attainment of Swaraj, the Nagpur Session passed resolutions regarding promotion of Khadi, unconditional support to Muslims in the Khilafat movement, removal of untouchability and creation of Tilak Swaraj Fund. Swaraj was to be attained within one year.

The Nagpur Congress gave tremendous fillip to the national movement in the Madhya Pradesh. As part of the peaceful programme the Non-Co-operators' Ashram and the Tilak Vidyalaya were established at Nagpur. To make prohibition effective volunteers picketed at the liquor shops on January 1921. The Police opened fire on the picketers in the city. [ HFM. pp. 303-308.]

After the Chauri Chaura incident in which the constables were cut to pieces by the angry mob, Gandhiji withdrew his mass civil disobedience movement which was to be launched all over the country. His promise of attaining Swaraj within a year fell through and a sort of lull spread over the entire programme of the Congress. It was in this atmosphere that the Swarajist Party was established following the Congress Session of Gaya of 1923. C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru who formed the Swarajist Party to carry Committee meeting of 26th October, 1925, declared that time had come for adopting a policy of Swarajists and created such a serious situation that a meeting of the All-India Swarajist Executive Committee was called at Nagpur and Pandit Motilal Nehru after heated discussions with Dr. Moonje remarked that, " Maharashtra was a diseased limb of the Swaraj Party and he was quite prepared to amputate it". [ Ibid. pp. 341-342.] The result was that N. C. Kelkar and M. R. Jayakar resigned from the Party and Dr. Moonje followed suit. The Responsive Co-operationist group formed their own Party under the presidentship of M. R. Jayakar. Dr. Moonje-Aney of this faction broke off from Abhyankar-Wamanrao Joshi.

The Congress party which was developing cracks inside was destined to witness the worst kind of communal riots between 1923 and 1925. In 1923 Mustafa Kamal Pasha declared Turkey a Republic and in 1924 the Khilqfat itself was abolished. The Indian Muslims were baffled. It knocked the bottom out of the Hindu-Muslim unity nurtured by the Congress all these years. The Muslims fell apart from the Congress increasingly.

In 1923 in the tense atmosphere of communalism the people of Berar under the leadership of Doctor Hedgewar, Doctor Paranjpe and Doctor Cholkar successfully carried the Dindi Satyagraha. [ Dr. Hedgewar by Palkar, pp. 123-129.] During the riots of the next year Doctor Moonje gave complete co-operation to Doctor Hedgewar, the founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevaka Sangha. What was happening in Nagpur was a common phenomenon in many other cities of India. To quell the riots Gandhiji started a fast of 21 days on 18 September, 1924. [HFM. p. 362.]

It may be noted here that Doctor Hedgewar was once an active and prominent worker of the Congress Party. He was the chief associate of Doctor L. V. Paranjpe who founded the Bharat Swayamsevaka Mandala with a view to training the volunteers for the Nagpur Session of the Congress of 1920. During the Non-co-operation Movement, Doctor Moonje and Doctor Hedgewar carried a hurricane campaign against the Government in and out of Nagpur. Doctor Hedgewar was sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment. After his release he found that his heart was not in the Congress as the unconditional help to the Muslims in the Khilafat movement to the exclusion of Goraksha Cow protection in the Congress programme presented a real contrast. [ Dr. Hedgewar by Palkar p. 84. One Mr. Badhe wanted that the Congress meeting in Nagpur should take the question of Goraksha as it was national. Gandhiji told him that this could not be taken as it would touch the feelings of the Muslims, and asked Mr. Badhe to leave the meeting. On his refusal to do so the meeting was adjourned.] To him as to many others in Nagpur unconditional help to Muslims for the attainment of Hindu-Muslim unity was a theoretical or spiritual solution fraught with danger. It was this mental dichotomy that drove Doctor Hedgewar to found the Rashtriya Swayamsevaka Sangh and forced many a thinker of Nagpur to join the Hindu Maha Sahha.  [ Dr. Hedgewar by N. H. Palkar pp. 136, 143, 147.]

The Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930-32.

With Gandhiji's historic march from Sabarmati to Dandi the Satyagraha Movement spread throughout the length and breadth of the country. On 16th April 1930, the Nagpur War Council was formed with Shri Abhyankar as its president. Among the other Members of the Council were Jamanalal Bajaj of Wardha, Mahatma Bhagwandin, Doctor N. B. Khare, Punamchanda Raka and Nilakanthrao Deshmukh. In Berar Brijlal Biyani, Bapuji Aney and Veer Wamanrao Joshi led  the movement.

M.V. Abhyankar was arrested. Bapuji Aney was arrested for cutting grass in the Pusad forest. Mrs. Anusayabai Kale was arrested for picketing. [ Ibid., pp. 385-389.] Nagpur people gave a good account of themselves in the Civil Disobedience Movement.

After the passing of the Act of 1935 the Congress decided to contest the elections. It had a clear majority in five provinces. When the new constitution came into force in the Madhya Pradesh a new ministry was formed with Doctor N.B. Khare as the Chief Minister on 14th July, 1937. [ My Political Memoirs or Autobiography, p. 8.] At the time of forming the Ministry Dr. Khare had to drop Shri P. D. Harkare from the list of Ministers at the instance of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Because of serious differences between Doctor Khare and his Mahakosal colleagues and also because of his differences with the Congress High Command he had to resign his office of Chief Ministership. He later published his case in the papers under " My Defence" [ Ibid., pp. 10-15.]. His case rather forms a sorry episode in the history of the Congress Party.

After the out-break of the Second World War the Congress Working Committee which met at Wardha from 8 September 1939 took the following momentous decisions:-

(i) It condemned Nazism and Fascism,

(ii) No foreign Government had the right to decide the issue of war and peace for India. It must be decided by the Indian people.

(iii) The British Government should declare its war aims.

(iv) Great Britain must establish democracy in India. A free India would willingly help free nations for mutual defence.

(v) Any declaration of war aims must be given effect to immediately [ HFM. pp. 438-439.].

On these fundamental questions no compromise was possible and the Congress Ministries from different provinces resigned. A deadlock became inevitable. Gandhiji started his individual satyagraha and Acharya Vinoba Bhave was the first volunteer to launch it on 17 October, 1941. In 1942 when the Quit-India call was given by the Congress, arrests,repression, underground activities and violence became a matter of daily occurrence. On the 12th August, the Police fired on the Nagpur mob, killing even women and children. At Ramtek in Nagpur district there was no government for some time. The atrocities at Ashti in Wardha and Chimur in Chandrapur are too well known during the freedom-struggle. Not less than nine persons succumbed to indiscriminate police firing at Ashti in the Wardha District.

Wardha, the centre of Gandhian Institutions.

In 1934 Gandhiji decided to stay permanently at Wardha. He had vowed that he would not return to the Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad until the attainment of Swaraj. This decision of Gandhiji made Wardha a place of pilgrimage both for politicians and philosophers. Since this time almost all political and social workers from the country who had attained some distinction visited Wardha either to seek advice or inspiration from Gandhiji. Foreigners too were attracted to Wardha as Gandhiji had chosen it as his permanent home.

Actually as early as 1921 Wardha became the seat of Gandhian institutions when Gandhiji sent Vinobaji Bhave to take charge of the Ashram there, at the request of Jamnalal Bajaj. Jamnalal Bajaj was a frequent visitor to the Gandhi Ashram at Sabarmati since its establishment in 1915. He had been requesting Gandhiji to shift his Ashram to Wardha for which he was prepared to offer all help. His honest desire was fulfilled when Gandhiji sent Vinobaji there to take charge of the Ashram.

Jamnalal Bajaj.

Prior to 1915 Jamnalal was greatly attracted by Gokhale, Pandit Malaviya and Lokamanya Tilak. As a young man he contributed a sum of Rs. 100 to Tilak's Kesari carefully saved from his pocket money. When the Marwadis of Bombay offered Tilak a purse Jamnalal came forward with his own liberal contribution. He was a keen observer of Tilak's Home Rule movement. Tilak too had noted Jamnalal's keen sense of patriotism and selflessness. But the contacts between, the two did not develop further. Temperamentally he was suited to have a Guru like Gandhiji. When Gandhiji arrived on the political horizon of India after his return from Africa, Jamnalal was watching his political activities carefully. When he met Gandhiji in 1915 he felt that he had at last found a guru in whose search he had been since long. He at once decided to surrender himself unto Gandhiji. From hereon Gandhiji was to be his guru in matters secular as well as spiritual. He decided to dedicate his life and property for the propagation of Gandhian ideas. Not satisfied with being a mere ardent devotee of Gandhiji, he requested him in 1920, on the occasion of the All India Congress Session held at Nagpur that he should be adopted by Gandhiji as his son. Jamnalal became the fifth son of Gandhiji and completely identified himself with his guru's philosophy and ways of life.

Thus Jamnalal's life was transformed after he got a guru of his choice in 1915. He entered politics in 1917, and by his devotion and silent work soon merited the attention of the Congress leaders. He was elected chairman of the Reception Committee at the All India Congress Session held at Nagpur in 1920. He led the Nagpur Flag Satyagraha in 1923. and the next year he was elected the President of Nagpur Pradesh Congress Committee. In 1938 the Congress. Working Committee informally decided to elect Jamnalal as the president of the Congress that was to be held at Haripura. But Jamnalal refused this offer, himself suggesting the name of Subhash Chandra Bose. On several occasions Jamnalal courted arrest and was put behind the prison bars by the British Government.

Politics was just one facet of the myriad activities in the life of Jamnalal Bajaj. It was not his first choice. His first choice was social service and through social service he aimed at his own spiritual uplift. In the traditional language of Hindu philosophy all his activities were directed towards God-realisation through service of humanity- seva. This explains why he could become the fifth son of Gandhiji.

Jamnalal was the President of the All India Hindi Sahitya Sammelana held at Madras in 1937. For the propagation of Hindi he secured a grand sum of Rs. 50,000 from the Agarwal Mahasabha. The Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha owes much to his initiative. He was mainly responsible for the activities of the Sasta Sahitya Mandal. One wonders how all the work done by this great patriot for the propagation of Hindi in Dakshina Bharat suffered a terrible set-back when provinces came to be redrawn on the basis of language in the years following the attainment of freedom.

The work done by Jamnalal for the uplift of the Harijans was without a parallel. The Lakshmi-Narayan temple at Wardha constructed by his grand-father was thrown open to the Harijans. A well in the Bachharaj Dharmshala compound was also thrown open for the use of the Harijans. Jamnalal was appointed chairman of the untouchability Removal Committee. He toured India requesting trustees of the shrines to allow Harijans to enter them. The far famed historic temple of Dattatreya at Elichpur was opened for the Harijans by the orthodox pujaris-temple keepers on the persuasion of Jamnalal.

As a silent constructive worker Jamnalal paid sufficient attention to the propagation of Khadi, development of Village Industries, uplift of women and their education, widow remarriage, abolition of pardha, Goseva and the like.

In short every Gandhian Institution that one finds today at Wardha has developed on the munificent grants given by Jamnalal Bajaj.

The present Sevagram which was originally Shegaon stands on land given as a gift by Jamnalal.

Though a multi millionaire Jamnalal hated mammon worship. He continued to acquire wealth by business on the advice of Gandhiji. He was a true Gandhian capitalist. With him the entire family became a family of patriots like the Nehrus. This great patriot-spiritualist and maker of modern Wardha breathed his last on 11 February, 1942.

Vinobaji, a Celebrity of Wardha.

The place of Vinobaji in making Wardha a place of pilgrimage is unique. He came to Wardha in 1921 to take charge of the Satyagraha Ashram at the behest of Gandhiji. Soon he became the preacher of the Bajaj family. Jamnalal's son, Kamal Nayan learnt at the feet of Vinobaji.

Being a lover of solitude and meditation he shifted his Ashram from Malvadi to Paunar near Wardha. He was the first soldier on the front of the individual satyagraha launched by Gandhiji in 1940. Vinobaji, one of the adopted sons of Gandhiji, is a born yogi. No one could form his estimate by the normal standards of judgement. In the words of Gandhiji, " He is one of the pearls in the Ashram. They do not come, like others, to be blessed by the Ashram, but to bless it. "

By his unique Bhudan movement he has attracted the minds of great thinkers in this country and abroad. This celebrity of our country like his guru has rendered Wardha holy by his stay. [ Jamnalal Bajaj, T. V. Parwate, 1962.].

The attractions of present Wardha are, Sevagram, the Lakshmi-Narayan temple, Bajajwadi, Magan Museum, Jamnalal Bajaj Research Institute, Gandhi Memorial Leprosy Foundation, Dattapur Kushtadham two miles from Wardha, the Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti and Gandhi Jnana-Mandir (Library).

The Congress is the strongest political party in Wardha having a good hold over the public. Among other parties may be mentioned the Jana Sangha, the Republican party, the Communists, Forward Block, the Naga-Vidarbha Andolana Samiti and the Jana Congress.

In the post-Independence period there has been rapid growth of educational institutions in Wardha.

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