Manohar Joshi
A teacher and businessman who became Mumbai's mayor, Maharashtra's chief minister and Lok Sabha Speaker, honoured posthumously with the Padma Bhushan in 2025.
Manohar Joshi’s long public career took him from Mumbai’s municipal corporation to the Speaker’s chair of the Lok Sabha. He was named for the Padma Bhushan in 2025, posthumously, in the field of public affairs, from Maharashtra [1].
Earn and learn
Joshi was born on 2 December 1937 in Nandvi, a village in Raigad district [2]. His family was poor, and he worked his way through school and his BA, MA and law degrees [2]. In 1961 he left a job at the Mumbai municipal corporation to start Kohinoor Classes, and in 1967 founded the Kohinoor Technical Institute to give young people without formal education job skills [2]. He was widely known as “Joshi Sir” [2].
Public office
Joshi joined the Shiv Sena in 1967, became a Mumbai corporator in 1968 and mayor of Mumbai in 1976 [2]. He served in both houses of the Maharashtra legislature and as leader of the opposition, and was chief minister of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999 [2]. During that time, the citation notes, 55 flyovers were built in Mumbai and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was constructed [2].
In Parliament he was Union minister of heavy industries and Speaker of the Lok Sabha [2]. He also served as president of the Mumbai Cricket Association and vice-president of the BCCI, and wrote 15 books [2].
Manohar Joshi died on 23 February 2024 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2025: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2025: citation for Manohar Joshi — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
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