Krishna Ballabh Sahay (31 December 1898 – 3 June 1974) was a freedom fighter,
who after Independence became the Revenue minister of Bihar and then
later on went on to become the Chief Minister of unified Bihar.
He belonged to Hazaribagh and is survived by his sons and grand-children who continue to dwell in the areas surrounding Hazaribagh - Tilaiya, Giridih, Patna and Delhi
Krishna Ballabh Sahay was responsible for setting up of several
industries in the state, prominent among them are the Barauni Refinery, and the Bokaro Steel Plant. Both were commissioned during his tenure as Chief Minister of Bihar.
Early Life
Krishna Ballabh Sahay poularly known as K. B. Sahay was born on December 31, 1898 at Sheikhpura in the Patna district of Bihar. He was the eldest son of Muhshi Ganga Prasad, who served as Daroga under British Rule. In 1919 he graduated with first class in English honors from St Columba’s College, Hazaribag and was also awarded the Gait’s Gold Medal from the then Governor of Bihar & Orissa Mr. Gait.
Independence Movement
Soon thereafter in 1920, Sri. Krishna Ballabh Sahay jumped into the fray
giving up further studies by joining the Civil Disobedience Movement at
the call of Gandhiji. Between 1930 and 1934 he was jailed four times
for different periods while taking part in the independence movement.
During one of these incarcerations he met his mentor Sri Babu and the
bond of friendship which was tied in jail remained intact throughout
their lives. He was also close to Anugrah Narayan Sinha, the other
legendary nationalist from Bihar.
Came 1942 and with it came Gandhiji’s battle cry of “Do or Die” for the “Quit India Movement”. Before this, senior leaders of Bihar including Dr. Rajendra Prasad & Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha visited Bihar to convey the conclusions of the “Vardha Accord” as well as to charter an action plan for Bihar during the Quit India Movement, in an important meeting at Sadaquat Ashram.
Sri Krishna Ballabh Sahay was a notable
contributor to this plan. “Quit India Movement” was launched with great
fierceness all over India and K B Sahay led the movement at Hazaribagh.
The British Government ordered immediate arrest of all its leaders. An
order to arrest K B Sahay was passed by Deputy Commissioner, Hazaribagh
(Order No.: 132 of 10.08.1942) and the very next day he was sent off to
jail. In jail, he was instrumental in the escape of Sri Jaya Prakash
Narayan from jail along with his associates namely Rama Nandan Mishra,
Yogendra Shukla, Suraj Narayan Singh, Sri Gulab Chand Gupta and Sri
Shaligram Singh on November 9, 1942. As a consequence, he was sent off
to Bhagalpur jail with orders for rigorous imprisonment
Political Life
Earlier, when Provincial Autonomy was granted by the British Raj, Sri
K B Sahay was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1936 and was
made a parliamentary secretary in Sri Krishna Sinha’s ministry in 1937.
During this period, K. B. Sahay also developed sympathy for the poor peasants whose inhuman suffering at the hands of zamindars had a great bearing on his mind. At a meeting at Chhapra on 11 May 1942, presided over by Dr. Rajendra Prasad and at another such meeting at Kudra in Shahabad, he spoke at length on the subject. Chief Minister of Bihar Sri Babu and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Anugrah Babu, also came from zamindar families. Sri Babu asked him to arrange a public meeting at his native place Tarapur in Munger. At this meeting, issues related to “Torture of inhabitants of Banaili Raj by their Zamindar” was taken up by Sri Babu and Krishna Ballabh Babu. This meeting which was also attended by Acharya J. B. Kriplani and was a grand success.
After independence, when the interim government was formed in Bihar,
K.B. Sahay was given the Revenue ministry since it was his pet subject.
This gave him an opportunity to fulfill his cherished dream of relieving
the peasants from the clutches of zamindars. K. B. Sahay was assisted
suitably by Sri Bajrang Sahay in drafting "Abolition of Zamindari" Bill
and the credit for its successful implementation goes to Sri Krishna
Babu who faced the brunt of the zamindars in the Bihar Assembly and got
it passed successfully.
He is credited with having authored and passed the first pioneering
legislation in the country to abolish the Zamindari system. In 1952, it
was the first such legislation in the country. With the Bill becoming an
Act (Bihar Act 30 of 1950), it sent shock waves among the zamindars all
over Bihar and these zamindars under the leadership of Dr. Kameshwar
Singh of Darbhanga decided to challenge the Act as a violation of
Article 14 of the Constitution of India. During this period, Sri K. B.
Sahay also survived a body blow intended to wipe him out. K.B. Sahay was
almost alone in his crusade for land reforms in the formative 1950s and '60s.
Bihar was the first to introduce legislation to abolish zamindari. But Patna High Court struck down the Act, as did the Supreme Court. It was this that led an exasperated Jawaharlal Nehru
to push the first amendment to the Constitution. The Constitution of
India was amended for the first time and Article 31 (A) and Article 31
(B) were added to nullify the effect of Article 14. The legislation on
land ceilings was introduced in the Assembly in 1955. A watered-down
version was passed only in 1959 and got presidential assent in 1962.
K. B. Sahay contested the first assembly elections of 1952 from Giridih
and won by a handsome margin to return as the revenue minister to the
Government of Bihar in Sri Babu’s cabinet. But in 1957, he was defeated
in the assembly election from Giridih
by Raja Kamakhya Narayan Singh of Padma (Hazaribag).
However, K. B.
Sahay won the assembly elections of 1962 to enter the Bihar Assembly for
the third time. In 1957, during the leadership struggle between Dr. S K
Sinha and Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha, he supported Anugrah Babu for
becoming Chief Minister. However Sri Krishna Babu won and again became the CM with Anugrah Babu as his deputy.
Chief Minister of Bihar
In the years that followed, Kamraj, the veteran Congress leader came
forward with his “Kamraj Plan” to strengthen the party. On 19 September
1963, with the announcement of “Kamraj Plan” came the news of Sri B. N.
Jha being taken as one of the eight Chief Ministers to look after the
affairs of Congress Party. Sri Beer Chand Patel threw his hat in the
contest for the Chief Minister of Bihar. K. B. Sahay who was deputy
minister in B. N. Jha’s cabinet was the other contestant. Satyendra
Narayan Sinha, the prominent Education Minister, who was decidedly
second-in-command in the Binodananda Jha Cabinet announced his support
for K B Sahay. B. C. Patel was no match for K. B. Sahay, who polled
double the number of votes as Sri Patel.
On 2 October 1963, the birth anniversary of Gandhiji was celebrated
in Bihar along with the swearing in ceremony of Sri Krishna Ballabh
Sahay as the fourth Chief Minister of Bihar with Satyendra Narayan Sinha
again becoming second in command.
K. B. Sahay lost the 1967 elections but won the local body elections
in 1974 to enter the Bihar Legislative Council as an MLC. He faced
enquiries by the Aiyyar Commission in between but was vindicated. Sri K.
B. Sahay met with a fatal road accident on 3rd June 1974 just after
winning the election, on his way back to his native place Hazaribag. His
death was a terrible loss to the country and the people of Bihar.
Among the leaders of Bihar belonging to the 20th century, whom the
people of this state would long remember for the constructive and
invaluable services rendered towards the progress of Bihar, Sri Krishna
Ballabh Sahay would certainly find a prominent place. His life is a
superb example of how a man can attain his cherished dream by dogged
determination, systematic planning and hard labour. He dreamt of an
independent India and an ever progressing Bihar for which he sacrificed
his whole life.
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