Krishna Sinha

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Krishna Sinha bigraphy, stories - Indian politician

Krishna Sinha : biography

1887 – 1961

Krishna Singh(1887–1961), known as Sri Babu and Bihar Kesari, was the first Chief Minister of the Indian state of Bihar (1946–1961). Along with the nationalists Rajendra Prasad and Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Singh is regarded among the Architects of Modern Bihar. Barring the war years(Second World War 1939–1945), Sinha was chief minister of Bihar from the time of the first Congress Ministry in 1937 until his death in 1961." He led Dalit’s entry into the Baidyanath Dham temple (Vaidyanath Temple, Deoghar), reflecting his commitment to the upliftment and social empowerment of dalits. He was the first Chief Minister in the country to abolish the zamindari system. He underwent different terms of imprisonment for a total of about eight years in British India.

The former President of India, Pratibha Patil, released a book on the letters of exchange between Sinha and the First Prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru titled Freedom and Beyond. The Nehru-Sinha correspondence touches on subjects such as Indian democracy in the making in early years of Independence, Centre-State relations, role of governor, turbulence in Nepal, Zamindari abolition and education scenario. Sinha was known for his scholarship and erudition and he had given his personal collection of 17,000 books to the public library in Munger in 1959 which is now named after him as Sri Krishna Seva Sadan.

Legacy

Almost all the development projects needed for the state of Bihar were done by the leadership pair of Shree Babu and A N Sinha. It includes several river valley projects right from Koshi, Aghaur and Sakri to other such river projects. The first five-year plan period was given to the development in rural development works mainly in the agricultural sector. In fact, Bihar became the top state in the country’s first five-year plan and it was announced by the then Finance Minister Dr. A N Sinha in the assembly. Since the second five-year plan period, Shri Babu brought several heavy industries like Barauni Oil Refinery, HEC plant at Hatia, Bokaro Steel Plant, Barauni Fertiliser Plant, Barauni Thermal Power Plant, Maithon Hydel Power Station, Sulphur mines at Amjhaur, Sindri Fertiliser Plant, Kargali Coal Washery, Barauni Dairy Project, etc. for the all round development of the state.

He had immense contribution in the cultural and social development of the state. It was he who had established the Rajendra Chatra Niwas at Calcutta for the Bihari students, the Anugraha Narayan Sinha Institute of Social Studies (ANSISS) at Patna, Lok Rangshala of the Bihar Sangit Nritya Natya Parishad, Sanskrit College at Patna, Ravindra Bhavan at Patna, Bhagvan Buddha’s statue at Rajgir Venu Van Vihar as well as orphanage at Muzaffarpur.

Freedom struggle

Singh first met Mahatma Gandhi in 1916 at Central Hindu College, Benares and later at Shah Muhammad Jubair’s house in December, 1920. At Munger, he vowed to work relentlessly to free India from the British rule. He gave up practising law in 1921 to take part in Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement.

He was arrested for the first time in 1922 at Jubair’s house and Congress Seva Dal was declared illegal. For this he was known as Bihar Kesari by the people. 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 All India Congress Committee.

Krishna Sinha (right) with [[Anugrah Narayan Sinha during the swearing-in ceremony of independent Bihar’s first government on 15 August 1947]]

In 1927, he became member of the Legislative Council and in 1929 became General Secretary of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee. In 1930, Sinha played an important role 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 Civil Disobedience movement. He was released after 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 Bihar earthquake. He was the President of Munger Zila Parishad from 1934 to 1937. In 1935, he became member of the Central Assembly.