Jagannath Mishra

Jagannath Mishra (24 June 1937 – 19 August 2019) was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar and as Minister in the Union Cabinet. He was also Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha between 1988 - 1990 and 1994 - 2000. His involvement was at a high level in the Indian National Congress. He was elected Chief Minister of Bihar three times. After his brother L.N. Mishra's assassination, Jagannath Mishra became Bihar's most powerful Congress leader in the late seventies and eighties. Prior to the emergence of Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1990, Jagannath Mishra was rated as the biggest mass leader in the Congress. He was affectionately called "Doctor Sahib". After leaving Congress, he joined the Nationalist Congress Party and later the Janata Dal (United). On 30 September 2013, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ranchi convicted him, along with 44 others, in the Fodder Scam. He was sentenced to four years imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 rupees. On 25 October 2013, the Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Mishra in fodder scam case. Mishra maintained his name was deliberately included in the scam on the instruction of the Congress president Sitaram Kesri. Dr. Mishra was acquitted in two fodder scam cases on 23 December 2017 and 19 March 2018. In two cases his Appeal is pending in Jharkhand High Court.

Career

Mishra began his career as a lecturer and later became professor of economics at Bihar University, Muzaffarpur.

Politics

He first became Chief Minister in 1975 but was brought down due to emergency. He became Chief Minister for the second time in the year 1980 and for third time in the year 1989. which provided reservation for backward castes. Mishra was also among those convicted of Fodder Scam along with Lalu Prasad Yadav and was subsequently sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment in connection with the case. Adopted amid pandemonium in the state legislature, the Bihar Press Bill prohibited the publication, sale and possession of any printed matter that was "scurrilous" or "grossly indecent" or "intended for blackmail."

Mishra maintained that while he supported a free press as necessary and vital to a democracy, it must be controlled if one section of it acts irresponsibly. Citing instances of character assassination in the press that would damage the government's credibility, he said that he expected commitment to national goals and aspirations from journalists. Addressing a Congress-I Party meeting in Lucknow, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said she had not read the Bihar Press Bill but understood from government lawyers that it contains nothing to gag the press. She warned that the government could not allow any segment of society, including the press, to misuse constitutional freedom of expression and that just as the constitution does not allow anyone to commit murder, no reporter could be allowed to engage in character assassination.

In an interview to The Indian Express in 2017, Mishra said he regretted the decision of bringing the bill — which he claims was taken to keep PM Indira Gandhi in good humour "at the peak of her differences with Maneka Gandhi"."I admit that I should not have brought the Bihar Press Bill," Mishra told The Indian Express from Delhi. "I did so to keep then PM Indira Gandhi in good humour. During one of my visits to Delhi, I saw Indira in a pensive mood. She was upset with reports about the differences between her and Maneka Gandhi. She had been getting bad press. She asked me if I can bring a bill on the lines of Tamil Nadu and Orissa and asked me to meet then information and broadcasting minister Vasant Sathe, who gave me a detailed brief. I went back and brought the Bihar Press Bill on 31 July 1982."

Making Urdu the second official state language

On 10 June 1980, during his first cabinet meeting of his second term as Chief Minister of Bihar, Mishra promised to get the state Official Language Act amended to make Urdu the second official language of the State (in addition to Hindi). At the time, Bihar was one of the few states that was contemplating giving Urdu an official status. Only in Jammu and Kashmir, where Urdu is the official medium, and Hyderabad before the army action in 1948 had given the language this kind of recognition.

<!-- NEED RELIABLE SOURCE

The decision provoked a furore from the Maithil Brahmins, who belong to the same region from which Mishra hails and had been up in arms for many years for the inclusion of their language, Maithili, in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. They unfurled black flags when Mishra went to Darbhanga to attend a civic reception. -->

On 19 September 1980, the state government led by Jagannath Mishra declared that Urdu was the second official language of the state.

Research and publications

He wrote many research papers  and also authored and edited a number of books. He was an erudite scholar, an author and an able administrator, and is credited with running of a tight ship during his tenure as Chief Minister of Bihar. Mishra's wife Veena died on 22 January 2018 at Delhi's Medanta hospital. She was 72 and was undergoing treatment for respiratory complications. He is survived by three sons and three daughters. He was also patron of many social organisations including the Lalit Narayan Mishra Institute of Economic Development & Social Change, Patna. After his death, a three-day state mourning was declared in Bihar. He was cremated with full State honours in Balua Bazar, his ancestral village in Supaul district.