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| RAJA BAHADUR KAMAKHYA NARAIN SINGH (10 AUGUST 1916- 7 MAY 1970) |
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| KRISHNA BALLABH SAHAY (31 DECEMBER 1898-3 JUNE 1974) |
The Swatantra Party emerged as the
largest opposition party in the Bihar Assembly after the 1962 general elections
with 47 members and Kamakhya Narain Singh was nominated as the Leader of the
Opposition in the House. When the Assembly met for the Budget Session in
February 1964, Kamakhya Narain Singh raised the issue of nationalization of forests
during debate on the Hon’ble Governor’s address. When K. B. Sahay stood to
reply leaders of various opposition parties were found missing. Neither
Kamakhya Narain Singh (Swatantra Party, Barhi) nor Karpoori Thakur (Praja
Socialist Party, Tajpur) or Chandrasekhar Singh (Communist Party, Teghra) was
present. This infuriated K. B. Sahay who drew the attention of the Speaker to
this gross insult to the Chair and the House. When some junior leaders tried to
counter him that they were present to listen to him, K. B. Sahay cut them short
curtly- ‘You still have a lot to
learn in Parliamentary democracy. I am speaking about the absence of hon’ble
members who had moved an amendment to the Hon’ble Governor’s address. If you have raised a certain objection or suggested amendments,
you must be present to listen to what the Government has to say on your
proposed amendment. We must uphold the dignity of the House. So please do not interrupt me when I am
addressing the Chair. This is
the essence of democracy’.
K. B. Sahay then went on to present the figures related to forestation in
Bihar, especially in the Chhotanagpur region and the related income generated
by the Government. Income from forests was a petty Rs. 42.95 lakhs in 1948-49
when the Bihar Private Forest Act was introduced and after the nationalization
of forests the income increased to Rs 2.60 crores- thus over fivefold increase
in income was recorded. K. B. Sahay refuted the charges of Kamakhya Narain
Singh vehemently- ‘We showed this courage to nationalize the forest
despite local opposition for which the Congress has paid a heavy price as
people voted for Swatantra Party. But elsewhere we have made our presence felt
and the Swatantra Party could not dent the strength of the Congress despite an
alliance with the Praja Socialist Party, the Communist and the Jan Sangh, just
like scores of kings could not move the Shiva’s arrow during Devi Sita’s
Swayambara –‘ Bhoop sahas das ekhin bara lage uthaawan tare na taaraa; kaami
vachan satiman jaise, khal ke vachan sant sah jaise’- (भूप सहस दस एकहि बारा। लगे उठावन टरइ न टारा॥ डगइ न समभू
सरासन कैसे, कामी वचन सती मनु जैसे।। (भावार्थ: धनुभंग के
समय दस हजार राजा एक साथ ही उस धनुष शिव-धनुष को उठाने लगे, पर
वह तनिक भी अपनी जगह से रहीं हिला। शिवजी का वह धनुष कैसे नहीं डिगता था, जैसे कामी पुरुष के वचनों से सती का मन कभी चलायमान नहीं होता।) (Bihar Assembly Debates, 20 February
1964)
Hardly had he been in office for a year, that the opposition led
by Kamakhya Narain Singh moved a ‘No-Confidence Motion’
on 3rd August 1964. The motion was brought not to question the policies
and programmes of the K. B. Sahay Government. Instead, Raja Bahadur Kamakhya
Narain Singh tried to corner K. B. Sahay by questioning the business interests
of his sons and compared his family to a cricket team.
After
patiently listening to the allegations for four days, K. B. Sahay replied to
each of these charges without stooping low and this differentiated him from his
adversaries led by the leader of opposition Raja Kamakhya Narain Singh apart
from Karpoori Thakur and Ramanand Tiwari. K. B. Sahay showed that parliamentary
decorum demanded that one must not lose sight of decent language and decent
behaviour even though being provoked with unfound allegations. Herein the
leadership style of K. B. Sahay was on full display much to the chagrin of his
adversaries who had no issue worth being raised that could have nailed K.B.
Sahay on his performance as Chief Minister of the State. K. B. Sahay concluded
his speech by replying to personal allegations in an emotionally laced speech
in the following words-
‘Hon’ble
Speaker, Raja Kamakhya mocks my family that I have so many sons that one may
raise a cricket team. I submit that I belong to a middle-class family and my
love life is restricted to my family and children. As a result, we have many
children. We are not rich like him where the husband-wife has only a couple of
children since they do not have time for each other. While the husband spends
time in Mussourie his wife enjoys her life in Kashmir. Both are separated by a
different set of friends, a different set of clubs and have separate Bank
account. In such a situation procreation is not possible. But for people like
us who come from the middle-class, we are committed to our family and children who
are of paramount importance for us.
K.
B. Sahay then turned the table on Kamakhya Narain Singh by reminding him to the
default on the payment of government dues- ‘Kamakhya Narain Singh has
alleged that he has not been given the ‘Certificate of Approval’ by the
Government. It may be pertinent to mention that this approval is granted where
the dues have been cleared. In the instant case dues against Kamakhya Narain
Singh on account of rent and royalties is to the tune of Rs. 9, 78, 59,272/-
(Rs Nine Crores Seventy Eight Lakhs, Fifty-Nine Thousand Two Hundred Seventy
Two only). In addition, he has to pay Rs. 2,44,64,818/- (Rs Two Crores Forty
Four Lakhs Sixty Four Thousand Eight Hundred Eighteen only) on account of
Income Tax of which the State Government share is to the tune of Rs.
24,92,099/- (Rs Twenty Four Lakhs Ninety Two Thousand Ninety Nine only).
Agricultural income tax including penalty for the period 1947-48 to 1950-51 is
to the tune of Rs 4,54,017/- (Rs Four Lakhs Fifty Four Thousand Seventeen only). Hence the Government did not
issue him a ‘Certificate of Approval’. My Government has made effort to provide
efficient and transparent governance and we will continue to do so.’ (Bihar
Assembly Debates 3rd August 1964)
The confidence with which K. B. Sahay replied to every
allegation levelled by the opposition, including the business interests of his
sons, makes it clear that K. B. Sahay was clear in his conscience and that he
had done no wrong. Only a person of pure character and ‘whose mind was without
fear’ could have faced the opposition onslaught with such courage and
conviction. However, such issues continued to follow him even thereafter by an
affluent class of zamindars and a committed Press.
On another occasion when Kamakhya
Narain Singh questioned K. B. Sahay’s ability to ensure a win for Congress candidates
on their home turf- i.e. Hazaribagh, K. B. Sahay replied to Raja’s diatribe
almost immediately-
‘Contrary
to the contention of Kamakhya Narain Singh let me clarify that the Congress has
done fairly well in Hazaribagh district. It won 7 seats in the District Board
elections in 1947, next only to his party. In 1952 it won 7 seats compared to 9
seats of Kamakhya Narain Singh’s Janta Party. Though Congress drew a blank in
1957, it won 4 seats in 1962. This relatively lukewarm response to Congress by
the electorates of Hazaribagh is because they are gullible and get easily
carried away by the antics of Kamakhya Narain Singh. The electorate of
Hazaribagh reminds me of a person who was suffering from kala-azar. When the
doctor asked him what was wrong, he replied innocently, ‘How do I know? Ask the
Diwan.’ (मो का जानू, जाने दीवनिया) After independence
though the nation has left behind ‘autocracy’ and adopted ‘democracy’, the
electorates of Hazaribagh are still unaware of the power of their vote and
exercise this power as if they are still governed by an autocratic ruler’. (Bihar
Assembly Debates 7th August 1964)
It is pertinent to mention here that Kamakhya Narain Singh’s was
the first family in India to use helicopters for the election campaign. Compare his
with K. B. Sahay whose first election campaign was on a bicycle and it was only
after independence that he could manage a four-wheeler for his election
campaign.
The Ministry of Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal resigned on 19th
March 1968 due to defection. This paved the way for another coalition
government under Bhola Paswan Shastri. Bhola Paswan Shastri enjoyed the support
of the Binodanand Jha faction of Congress apart from Raja Kamakhaya Narain
Singh of Ramgarh became a minister in his ministry. The consistent bases of Raja Kamakhay Narain Singh’s politics had been to maintain his group of
personal followers and to find a position of prominence for himself to protect
his interests and those of his family. Those interests include extensive mining
properties and forest lands, the need for protection against the state
government, which had long been prosecuting several cases against him in court
on various charges, notably default of payments of its bills, for which the Raja
was famous. K. B. Sahay manoeuvred the political developments in such a manner
that Bhola Paswan Shastri declined to oblige Raja Kamakhya Narain Singh with
the ministry of Mines and Minerals. Raja Kamakhya Narain Singh resigned in a
huff, never to return to power as his life was cut short by a cardiac arrest
leading to his demise on 7th May 1970. He was cremated at his native
place in the Padma near Barhi, Hazaribagh. The decades' old rivalry between K. B.
Sahay and Raja Kamakhya Narain Singh, which was the subject of much folklore in
the Chhotanagpur region of Bihar, was thus cut short due to the sudden demise
of the Raja.
The rivalry between K. B. Sahay and Raja Bahadur Kamakhya Narain
Singh was often discussed in the political and intellectual circle in
Chhotanagpur. People believed that had these two stalwarts joined hands, things
would have been much different. Once a few of K.B. Sahay’s close acquaintances
put forth this proposition before him, ‘If you (K. B. Sahay), Kamakhya Narain
Singh and Jaipal Singh Munda all come together, a radical-radiant change could
be visualized in Chhotanagpur’. K. B. Sahay was prompt to reply, ‘I haven’t the
least of hesitation. You see, they have their axe to grind. You can’t expect
the moon to kiss the sun. But both need to be there.’ (‘The man I knew’- Raghuveer
Prasad)
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