Keshav Upadhyaya

From Roach Busters

Keshav Upadhyaya
President of the Indian Social Republic
Term start	April 17, 2008
Term end	Incumbent
Preceded by	Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Prime Minister of the Indian Social Republic
Term start	June 19, 2006
Term end	Incumbent
Preceded by	Manohar Thackeray
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Date of birth	December 1, 1950
Place of birth	Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India
Spouse	Pratibha Upadhyaya
Profession	Politician
Political party	PRHNP
Religion	Hinduism
Languages	Bengali, Hindi, English, Tamil

Keshav Upadhyaya (b. December 1, 1950), popularly known as Netaji ("Respected Leader"), is the President and Prime Minister of the Indian Social Republic. He is the first Indian to serve in both of these positions simultaneously. He has served as Prime Minister since June 19, 2006, and as President since April 17, 2008. He assumed the latter office after his predecessor, Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, was assassinated in a terrorist attack orchestrated by Upadhyaya himself. Seizing upon the upheaval and fear that ensued, Upadhyaya skillfully exploited the situation to convince Parliament to grant him emergency powers and allow him to succeed Pawaiya as President. He subsequently disbanded Parliament and the courts, declared martial law, and now rules with near-absolute power.

His legacy abroad is controversial, with friendly nations describing him as a virtuous, wise, and principled leader, and other nations (mainly liberal democracies) denouncing him as a cruel, shrewd, power-hungry dictator.

Biography

Born to an affluent Bengali family from one of India's highest castes, young Upadhyaya was an only child. His father, Jadugopal, was a prominent Indian nationalist who had been arrested no less than fifteen times by the English for his pro-independence activities, and later joined the Axis-supported Indian National Army which eventually succeeded in expelling the British from India. In 1951, Jadugopal, who had studied economics in Japan, was appointed finance minister of the new fascist government, and the Upadhyaya family moved to New Delhi, the capital.

Keshav Upadhyaya's mother, Lakshmi, died of cervical cancer in 1955, when he was only five years old. His father, unable to raise the boy due to his busy schedule, sent the boy to live with relatives in England, where he attended boarding school and learned to speak fluent English in the process. After finishing school, Keshav attended Oxford, where he studied political science, but did not graduate. He was expelled from school in 1972 for assaulting (and nearly killing) a right-wing student who had spoken positively of British rule in India. Shortly afterwards, Keshav returned to India, where he drifted aimlessly for six months, unable to find a satisfactory job, before enlisting in the military.

During his military service (1973 — 1977), he met Pratibha Gadkari, an army nurse who was ten years his senior. In spite of the age difference, they clicked almost instantly, and soon fell in love. to be continued