Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher

Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher (also known as B. G. Kher) (Marathi: बाळासाहेब गंगाधर खेर) (24 August 1888 – 8 March 1957) was the first chief minister (then called Premier) of Bombay State which consisted of present-day Maharashtra and Gujarat States of India. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 1954. A lawyer, solicitor and social worker by choice and politician by necessity, Kher was often described as "Sajjan", good and gentle. Kher was a scholar, an accomplished orator, and a man with no pretensions.

Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher was born on 24 August 1888 at Ratnagiri in a middle class Karhade Brahmin family. He spent some years of his boyhood at Kundgol in the then Jamkhandi State. Later, he migrated at the instance of Gopal Krishna Gokhale to Pune to study at the New English School. Later he obtained the degree of B.A. in 1908 from the Wilson College, with high distinction and received the Bhau Daji Lad prize for standing first in Sanskrit.

Mr. B.G. Kher along with Mr. Manilal Nanavati started a law firm called Manilal Kher & Co. The firm commenced practice on 7 June 1918. The firm was the only firm in Mumbai to have its inauguration ceremony being presided over by the renowned Judge, Mr. Justice Sir Frank C.O. Beaman. The firm's name was then changed to Manilal Kher Ambalal & Co.

B. G. Kher's political career began in 1922. He was appointed as the Secretary of the Bombay branch of the Swaraj Party. During the Civil disobedience movement, he was arrested and sentenced to eight months' rigorous imprisonment and fine in 1930. He was again arrested in 1932 and sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment and fine.

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