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| SRI KRISHNA SINHA (21.10. 1887-31.01.1961) |
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| KRISHNA BALLABH SAHAY (31.12.1898-03.06.1974) |
60 years have passed
since Sri Krishna Sinha, the first Chief Minister and the only Chief Minister
of Bihar to die in office, left us on this day i.e. 31st January.
That was the year 1961. When we look back at his political career, especially in the
post-independence era, his association with Krishna Ballabh Sahay stands out as
a superb example of what two Krishnas were capable of doing together for the
development of the State. There was a time not so long ago when the two
Krishnas reigned supreme not only in Bihar but in India as well.
Both these stalwarts
entered the freedom struggle during the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1919. Both
were incarcerated, albeit in different jails. It was in jail that Sri Krishna
Sinha got the news of the birth of his second son. When his jail inmates asked
him about his son’s name he said nonchalantly ‘He is the son of a prisoner. He
will be called ‘bandi’ (बंदी का बेटा है।
नाम तो बंदी ही होगा।).
Thus the second son of Sri Babu came to be known as Bandi Shankar Singh.
Both Sri Krishna Sinha
and Krishna Ballabh Sahay were released from jail in 1922. In 1925 there was a
meeting of the Congress at Shimla where these two luminaries met for the first
time. However, this was just a formal meeting.
On 31st
December 1922 in the annual meeting of the Congress at Gaya Chittaranjan Das
and Motilal Nehru advocated Council entry with an aim to subvert the smooth functioning
of the government from inside. The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms
(Government of India Act, 1919) or more briefly known as the Mont-Ford Reforms
were reforms introduced by the colonial government in British India to
gradually introduce self-governing institutions in India. The top leadership of Congress including Mahatma
Gandhi opposed the idea to subvert the government through Council entry. Hence
the resolution was rejected by the Congress. But these two lawyers did not accept this setback
and on that very day they arranged a meeting at the residence of their client
the Tekari Maharaja of Gaya and announced the formation of the Congress Swaraj
Party with the prime objective of subverting the British Government’s effort from
inside through Council entry. Gandhiji acceded to their decision and allowed
the Swaraj Party to function as a wing of the Congress. On 26th February
1923 the Bihar Swaraj Party was formed with Sri Narayan Prasad as its President
and Krishna Ballabh Sahay and Harnandan Sahay as the two Secretaries. In another meeting held on 9th May
1923, Sri Arunjay Sahay Verma was elected President and Krishna Ballabh Sahay
and Abdul Bari were elected as the two Secretaries. The Bihar Swaraj Party won
6 seats in the Council in elections in 1923. Krishna Ballabh Sahay urged Sri
Krishna Sinha to join the Swaraj Party and in the next election in 1926, Sri
Krishna Sinha got elected as a Congress Swaraj Party candidate. Krishna Ballabh
Sahay used to put across his views in a forceful manner during discussions in
Council and this impressed Sri Krishna Sinha. He saw in K. B. Sahay the traits
of an able administrator. Sri Babu began relying on K. B. Sahay on all
administrative matters.
During the period
1930-1934 Krishna Ballabh Sahay was jailed on four occasions for participation
in the Civil Disobedience Movement. K. B. Sahay was incarcerated in the
Hazaribagh Central Jail (Now Loknayak Jai Prakash Central Jail) and Sri Krishna
Sinha joined him as a political prisoner on 9th January 1932. They
spent the next two years in jail together. This strengthened their bond of
friendship.
In 1937 when elections
were held under the Government of India Act, 1935, Congress emerged as the
single largest party with 99 seats. However, the central leadership of the Congress
was in two minds about joining the Government. Hence, the then Governor of
Bihar James David Shifton invited Mohammad Yunus, the leader of the second-largest party, the Muslim Independent Party, which had won 20 seats to form
government in Bihar. Thus Mohammad Yunus, known also as the founder of the popular
newspaper ‘The Searchlight’, became the first Prime Minister (as the Head of a
province was then called) of Bihar on 1st April 1937, ahead of Sri
Krishna Sinha.
However, Mohammad
Yunus failed to prove his majority and therefore he had to resign. Sri Krishna
Sinha and Sri Anugrah Narayan Sinha were both members of the Central Assembly
(Council of States) and were not directly connected with State politics. Hence
the then Congress President Maulana Abul Kalam Azad backed the candidature of
Syed Mahmud for the Premier of Bihar. However, Dr Rajendra Prasad intervened in
favour of Sri Krishna Sinha. Dr Prasad’s effort was actively supported by Sri
Anugrah Narayan Sinha and Krishna Ballabh Sahay. Thus Sri Krishna Sinha took
over as the Premier of Bihar. Maulana Azad was so miffed with the development that
he also mentioned this incident in those sealed thirty pages of his
autobiography ‘India Wins Freedom’ that was finally published thirty years after
his death, as per his wishes.
Sri Krishna Sinha who
was impressed with the administrative acumen of K. B. Sahay made him one of the
Parliamentary Secretaries and posted him directly under himself for assisting
him in all administrative matters. K. B. Sahay left his impression on every
administrative decision of the time. This further sharpened his administrative
skill. K. B. Sahay was very particular about the superiority of the elected
government vis-à-vis the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy remained on tenterhooks under
K. B. Sahay as he never tolerated any slackness. A. Munim of Dr S. Radhakrishnan Center of Social & Cultural Studies, Patna
recounts an event in following words- ‘The third remarkable feature of K. B. Sahay’s multifaceted personality
was, undoubtedly his brilliant administrative acumen. He was tireless in going
through all the files minutely, critically and methodically. He had the
proverbial patience to wade through the intricacies of papers and documents. He
had an uncanny memory. He did not indulge in gossips while he interviewed a large
number of people daily. His decisions on numerous administrative issues were
quick, firm and decisive. He did not soft-paddle the problems. He did not know
the art of putting off the matters of appeasing or accommodating unreasonable
persons. In this context, the fate of the famous or infamous Brett Circular is
a classic example. K. B. Sahay, in the first Congress ministry formed in 1937
and headed by Dr Sri Krishna Sinha, was only Parliamentary Secretary, attached
with the Chief Minister. To put it very briefly, Mr W. B. Brett, I.C.S. as
Chief Secretary to the then Bihar government, had issued a circular to all
Commissioners of Divisions and Heads of Departments curtailing the powers of
the ministers by quoting Rule 13 of the Rules of Executive Business. It was a
rude challenge and an open affront to the elected Congress Government. K. B.
Sahay took up the challenge on behalf of the Congress ministry in consultation
with the Chief Minister Dr S. K. Sinha. The circular had to be withdrawn on
the 24th December 1937 signed by the same Chief Secretary Mr W. B.
Brett. The British civilian had to eat humble pie. K. B. Sahay had cornered W.
B. Brett’.
The duo of Sri Krishna
Sinha and K. B. Sahay took a number of decisions that reversed the decision of
an alien rule. Thus the rise in land revenue was withdrawn. Setting free all
political prisoners was another such decision. The genesis of Zamindari
abolition can be traced back to this period and their effort to bring about any
change in the Zamindari System was effectively stonewalled by the ultimate
authority i.e. the Governor.
The
Congress Ministries resigned in 1939 after the outbreak of World War II.
Krishna Ballabh Sahay was not satisfied with the achievement of the interim the government in matters of agrarian reforms due to the restricted powers the
British had allowed being exercised by the elected representatives. He joined
the peasant movement and arranged a number of meetings throughout Bihar to
mobilize farmers against the existing land revenue system and sought their
support. Soon his meetings became very popular and successful. K. B. Sahay
arranged one such meeting at Shahabad in Kudra on 11th May 1942
which was presided over by Dr Rajendra Prasad. Sri Krishna Sinha invited
Krishna Ballabh Sahay to Monghyr where a meeting was organized to highlight the
plight of farmers under the Banaili Raj. This meeting was also attended by J.
B. Kriplani. In 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call of ‘Quit India
Movement.’ At the dawn of 9th August 1942, all top Congress leaders
were arrested and sent to different jails. Krishna Ballabh Sahay and Sri
Krishna Sinha was sent off to Hazaribagh Central Jail.
In
1946, after it became clear that the British had agreed to transfer power,
interim governments were formed in all the provinces. In Bihar Sri Krishna
Sinha headed the interim government. Krishna Ballabh Sahay was assigned the
ministry of Revenue & Forest. Till now Krishna Ballabh Sahay had not
shouldered the responsibility of a ministry independently and he was relatively
young. To put him at ease with the bureaucratic paraphernalia, Sri Babu asked
him which I.C.S. he would be comfortable to work with so that he may be posted to
his ministry. Pat came the reply-‘Post any I.C.S. and I will grind him like
anything’- such was K.B.’s confidence in administrative matters.
The
next, eleven years (1946-1957) were the most tumultuous years in the life of K.
B. Sahay. It was during this period K. B. Sahay piloted legislations to undo the Permanent Settlement Act, 1793 and introduce legislation for the
welfare of the peasantry. The Zamindari Abolition Act or the Bihar Land Reforms
Act, the Bakasht Dispute Settlement Act, the Bihar Tenancy (Amendment) Act, the
Chhotanagpur Tenancy (Amendment) Act, the Santhal Parganas (Amendment) Act, the
Bihar Fallow Land (Reclamation, Cultivation & Improvement) Act and a horde
of other Acts were passed by K. B. Sahay as the Revenue Minister. This brought him
in direct conflict with the zamindars who opposed him tooth and nail and even
made an attempt on his life. But throughout this tumultuous period, Sri Babu
stood firmly behind K.B. Sahay as a rock and extended him his full support in
his endeavour to bring about the desired agrarian reforms including the abolition
of zamindari. If K. B. Sahay piloted the land reforms in Bihar, it was Sri
Krishna Sinha who ensured that it did happen the way K. B. Sahay wanted it to
happen. Thus Bihar became the first state to abolish zamindari in independent India.
It
was not only in administrative matters that Sri Babu depended upon the administrative skill of K. B. Sahay but he also made use of K. B. Sahay’s
English to establish newspapers in Bihar to voice the Government’s point of
view and to counter the newspapers of Darbhanga Raj. Thus while shouldering the
responsibility of the Revenue Minister; K. B. Sahay also edited ‘Rashtra-vaani’
and ‘Nav-Shakti’.
K. B.
Sahay paid a heavy price for championing the cause of the peasants. The zamindars
assembled to oppose him and they got an opportunity when they defeated him in
the 1957 general elections. However, after this defeat, while Sri Babu
rehabilitated Mahesh Babu, who was also defeated in 1957, as the Chairman of
the Khadi Board, he left K. B. Sahay to cool his heels in isolation. This infuriated
Jai Prakash Narayan who brought this injustice to the notice of Dr Rajendra
Prasad through a letter. K. B. Sahay requested Jai Prakash Narayan to refrain
from further taking up his case as it had brought him in direct conflict with
Sri Babu which he did not relish. Moreover, he had supported Anugrah Narayan
Sinha for the leadership of Congress Legislative Party leadership that Anugrah
Babu had lost. Anugrah Babu died soon thereafter. K. B. Sahay wrote an
extensive article in ‘The Searchlight’ which cleared all the differences
between him and Sri Babu and things did patch up before the demise of Sri Babu
in 1961. With the demise of Sri Babu a chapter in the political history of
Bihar came to a close.
In
October 1963 Krishna Ballabh Sahay took over as the Chief Minister of Bihar
after defeating Beer Chand Patel in the election for Bihar Congress Legislative
leadership election which was held due to the removal of the incumbent CM
Binodanand Jha under the ‘Kamraj Plan’. Krishna Ballabh Sahay remembered his
friendship with Sri Babu and paid back by including his son Bandi Shankar Singh
(who was now known as Swaraj Shankar Singh after independence) in his cabinet.
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