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Shri Krishna Sinha

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Shri Krishna Singh
Shri Babu
1st Chief Minister of Bihar
In office
15 August 1947 – 31 January 1961
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byDeep Narayan Singh
2nd Finance Minister of Bihar
In office
5 July 1957 – 31 January 1961
Preceded byAnugrah Narayan Sinha
Succeeded byDeep Narayan Singh
2nd Premier of Bihar Province
In office
20 July 1937 – 31 October 1939
Preceded byMohammad Yunus
Succeeded byGovernor's rule
In office
2 April 1946 - 15 August 1947
Member Of the Constituent Assembly
In office
9 December 1946 – 26 January 1950
Preceded byPost Created
Succeeded byPost Abolished
Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office
1952–1961
Preceded byPosition Established
Succeeded byShiv Shankar Singh
Personal details
Born(1887-10-21)21 October 1887
Sheikhpura, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died31 January 1961(1961-01-31) (aged 74)
Patna, Bihar, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Calcutta, Patna University
OccupationLawyer
Nationalist
Statesman
Educationist
Administrator
Nickname(s)Bihar Kesari, Shri Babu

Shri Krishna Singh (Sinha) (21 October 1887 – 31 January 1961), also known as Shri Babu, was the first chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar (1946–61). Except for the period of World War II, Sinha was the chief minister of Bihar from the time of the first Congress Ministry in 1937 until his death in 1961.[1] He led the Dalit entry into the Vaidyanath Temple, Deoghar.[2] He was the first chief minister in the country to abolish the zamindari system.[3] He was imprisoned for a total of about eight years in British India. He held mass meetings at which he spoke.[4] He was known as Bihar Kesari for his "lionlike roars" in public speaking.[4]

The former President of India, Pratibha Patil, released a book on the letters of exchange between Sinha and prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru titled Freedom and Beyond.[5][6] The correspondence between Nehru and Sinha touches on subjects such as Indian democracy in the making in the early years of Independence, Centre-State relations, role of governor, turbulence in Nepal, zamindari abolition, and education.[5][6] Sinha gave his personal collection of 17,000 books to the public library in Munger in 1959 which is now named Sri Krishna Seva Shadan after him[7] which in 2016 was reportedly in poor condition due to lack of funding.[8]

Early life and family

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Shri Krishna Sinha was born in a Bhumihar family on 21 October 1887 in the village of Maur, Barbigha in the Munger district of Bengal Presidency (now part of Sheikhpura district).[9] His mother died of plague when he was five years old. He was educated in the village school and at Zila School in Munger. In 1906 he joined Patna College, which was then an affiliate of the University of Calcutta. He obtained a master's degree from the University of Calcutta and then doctorate of law from Patna University and started practicing in Munger from 1915. In the meantime, he married and had two sons, Shivshankar and Bandishankar (more commonly known as Swaraj Babu) who later held various posts in the state government.[10][citation needed]

Independence movement

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Shri Krishna Sinha first met Mahatma Gandhi in 1916 at Central Hindu College, Benares. He gave up practising law in 1921 to take part in Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.[10]

He was arrested for the first time in 1922 and Congress Seva Dal was declared illegal. For this he was known as Bihar Kesari[further explanation needed]. He was released from jail in 1923 and on the day of Tulsi Jayanti performed in the play Bharat Darshan at Central School, Kharagpur. In the same year he became member of the All India Congress Committee.[10]

In 1927 Sinha became a member of the Legislative Council and in 1929 became General Secretary of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC). In 1930, he participated in the Namak Satyagrah at Garhpura. He suffered severe scalding injuries to his hands and chest while being arrested, was imprisoned for six months and then was again arrested and imprisoned for two years during the civil disobedience movement. He was released after the Gandhi–Irwin Pact and again started with his nationalist work and work with the Kisan Sabha. On 9 January 1932 he was sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1,000. He was released from Hazaribagh Jail in October 1933. He was involved in relief and rehabilitation after the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. He was the President of Munger Zila Parishad from 1934 to 1937. In 1935, he was elected President of the Bihar Provincial Congress Committee in 1935 and 1953. He was elected to the Central Legislature in 1935–36. Shri Sinha was elected to the Bihar Legislature Assembly in 1935,[11] 1946, 1952 and 1957 and re-elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party in all the three successive terms.[12][additional citation(s) needed]

Sinha was also the President of the BPCC in 1936 with A.N. Sinha as his deputy,[13] a member of its working committee and the two held the positions for over thirty years.[14]

On 20 July 1937, he became the Premier of Bihar province when Congress came to power. Under the Government of India Act of 1935, Sinha formed his Cabinet at Patna on 20 July 1937. He and his colleague A.N. Sinha disagreed with the governor on the issue of the release of political prisoners and resigned. The then-governor had to accede to the demands for release of prisoners from Cellular Jail (Kalapani) and the Bihar Tenancy Act was reformed in favour of peasants. They then resumed office. But they again resigned in 1939, as did all Congress chief ministers, over the question of involving India in the Second World War without the consent of the Indian people. Along with A.N. Sinha, the first deputy chief minister cum finance minister of Bihar,[15][additional citation(s) needed] he is considered by some to be one of the makers of modern Bihar.[10]

Sinha opposed the caste system in India. In 1940 Gandhi described him as "the first Satyagrahi" of Bihar while A.N. Sinha was the second.[16] He was jailed for nine months (22 November 1940 – 26 August 1941). During the Quit India movement, which started in 1942, he was arrested on 10 August. He was released in 1944 from Hazaribagh jail after he became seriously ill. In the same year his wife died at Prince of Wales Medical College.[10]

As the former chief minister of Bihar he attended the Simla Conference and also became a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, which framed the Constitution of India.[16]

Sinha served Bihar continuously from 1946 until his death on 31 January 1961 at the age of 73. In 1978, the Ministry of Culture established a science museum called the Srikrishna Science Centre. The largest conference hall in Patna, Shri Krishna Memorial Hall is also named after him.[10]

No confidence motions

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Sinha was forced to a vote on a no-confidence motion to remove him from power five separate times, surviving each time.[17]

Honors

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Shri Krishna Singh 1988 stamp of India

He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2016.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Walter Hauser (February 1997). "Changing images of caste and politics". Retrieved 8 April 2008.
  2. ^ Arun Kumar (25 January 2005). "Bhumihars rooted to the ground in caste politics". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  3. ^ Abhay Singh (6 July 2004). "BJP, Cong eye Bhumihars as Rabri drops ministers". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  4. ^ a b Sharma, L.N. (2013). Politics and Good Governance. Regal Publications, New Delhi. pp. 310 (at p. 277). ISBN 978-81-8484-269-2.
  5. ^ a b Pranava K Chaudhary (1 June 2009). "Prez releases book on Nehru, Sri Babu letters". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Sri Babu promoted L N Mishra, reveals recently released letters to Nehru". Bihar Times. 2 June 2009. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  7. ^ "NATIONAL INFORMATICS CENTRE, MUNGER". Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  8. ^ Shri Krishna Prasad (1 June 2016). "Hope for Library". The Telegraph. India. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  9. ^ Ramachandra Prasad; Ashok Kumar Sinha (1987). Shri Krishna Sinha: a biography. N.K. Enterprises.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Prasad, R.C. (1987). Shri Krishna Sinha: A Biography. N.K.Enterprises, New Delhi. p. 186.
  11. ^ "The Bihar Legislative Assembly Debates" (PDF). 23 December 1937.
  12. ^ Page-18. "Press Information Bureau Government of India" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Kumar, Dr. Vijay (2013). Srkrishna Sinha Smriti Granth: Vichar aur Darshan. Patna: Bihar State Archives. pp. 692 (at p. 164). ISBN 978-93-81456-18-7.
  14. ^ Sharma, L.N. (2013). Politics and Good Governance. Regal Publications, New Delhi. p. 212. ISBN 978-81-8484-269-2.
  15. ^ "First Bihar Deputy CM cum Finance Minister; A N Sinha". Indian Post. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  16. ^ a b Prasad, R.C. (1987). Shri Krishna Sinha: A Biography. N.K.Enterprises, New Delhi.
  17. ^ Sharma, L.N. (2013). Politics and Good Governance. Regal Publications, New Delhi. p. 195. ISBN 978-81-8484-269-2.
  18. ^ "C P Joshi hints at organizational restructuring in Bihar Congress". The Times of India. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
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