Kaka Joseph Baptista

Joseph Baptista, was also fondly called Kaka Baptista by the labourers, whose cause he stood for. He was the first President of the Railway Employees Union of B B and C I Railways and also a member of the Municipal Corporation as a corporator and chairperson of the Standing Committee. He was also one of the founding members of AITUC. He started his public life as an employee of the Forest Department, the job he left to study law and Politics at Cambridge and upon return entered the Municipal Corporation in the 1901 elections and played an important role in the founding of the Indian Home Rule League in the year 1916. He organised the first all India Postal strike in the year 1917. He was also the President of the Municipal Reform Association that was opposed to the idea of Chawl housing. In May 1925 he was elected as the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation, at that time known as the President and in the year 1926 elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly. He played a significant role in extending of municipal franchise to tenants and the ratepayers. He defended Tilak during his sedition case proceedings in the Court. He also represented the Bombay East Indian Association He died in September 1930 at the age of 66.