Shri Krishna Sinha

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] Along with the Desh Ratna Rajendra Prasad[2] and Bihar Vibhuti Anugrah Narayan Sinha (A.N. Sinha), Sinha is regarded among the architects of modern Bihar.[by whom?] He also led the Dalit entry into the Baidyanath Dham temple (Vaidyanath Temple, Deoghar).[3] He was the first chief minister in the country to abolish the zamindari system.[4] He underwent terms of imprisonment for a total of about eight years in British India. Sinha's mass meetings brought many people to hear him.[5] He was known as Bihar Kesari for his "lionlike roars" in public speaking.[5] His close friend and Gandhian Bihar Vibhuti A.N. Sinha in his essay Mere Shri Babu wrote that, "Since 1921, the History of Bihar has been the history of the life of Shri Babu".[6] The 'Bihar Kesari' never visited his constituency to ask for votes as he believed that his work will speak for him.[7]

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.[8][9] 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.[8][9] Sinha was known for his scholarship and for being a polymath. He gave 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 Shadan[10] which is reportedly now in poor condition due to lack of funding.[11]

  1. ^ Walter Hauser (February 1997). "Changing images of caste and politics". Retrieved 8 April 2008.
  2. ^ Late Sri Krishna Singh. jamui.bih.nic.in
  3. ^ Arun Kumar (25 January 2005). "Bhumihars rooted to the ground in caste politics". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  4. ^ Abhay Singh (6 July 2004). "BJP, Cong eye Bhumihars as Rabri drops ministers". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "Bihar's First CM Shri Krishna Singh Never Asked For Votes". The Telegraph. India. 10 October 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "NATIONAL INFORMATICS CENTRE, MUNGER". Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  11. ^ Shri Krishna Prasad (1 June 2016). "Hope for Library". The Telegraph. India. Retrieved 28 May 2024.