User:Sinha.Apoorva/sandbox/Birchand Patel

Bir Chand Patel (12 March 1911 – 07 December 1966) was an Indian Independence activist, a lawyer, an Indian political leader, an OBC stalwart and member of the Indian National Congress. Patel was born on 12 March 1911, in Patna City of Bihar, though Hajipur (in present day Vaishali district of Bihar) remained the land of his upbringing and primary education. He was affectionately referred as “Biru Babu” by his peers.

Early Life and Personality:

Bir Chand Patel was born in Machharhatta locality of Patna City on 12 March 1911 in a Kurmi Kshatriya family. He was the eldest among the two siblings, the younger being Gopinath Patel. Patel lost his father at a very young age, after which his family shifted to Hajipur, his maternal home, where he grew up and completed his primary education and Intermediate. It was in Hajipur where the values of nationalism, honesty and dutifulness were inculcated in him. As he attained his youth, his passion struggle for India’s Independence grew stronger and he became a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He devoted himself in the Independence Movement and suffered severe financial crisis. He lost his young wife to Tuberculosis. His only son who was suffering from a long-term illness died when Patel was contesting elections for local board.

Patel was known for his polite and pleasing personality since childhood. Among his counterparts in the political circle, he was popular to be peace-loving and was even respected by his rivals. He was a staunch opposer of caste discrimination and caste-based politics. However, he believed that social organisations representing certain caste or community could play a vital role in eradicating caste discrimination prevalent in their caste and simultaneously raise issues related to their rights and representation. In his speech in 1960, while attending a seminar organized by Bihar State Tailik Vaishya Association he stated, “I am committed to protect the society from the toxic effects of Casteism. Caste organisations too, can work in this direction from their platforms.”

Education:

Bir Chand Patel was a M. A. & LLB by qualification and was a meritorious student since childhood. He received education at Hajipur, Muzaffarpur and Banaras. He was studying in the Intermediate when he joined the Salt March in 1930 which interrupted his studies. He resumed his studies later and completed his Intermediate from Hajipur.

Patel enrolled for higher studies in Patna college, however he got expelled due to his aggressive involvement in the Indian Independence Movement by the English Principal of the College. This anguished Patel and left him hopeless. However, he soon came in contact of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya who guided him to join the esteemed Banaras Hindu University, from where he received degree in Law. Patel joined the Bar in 1937 and picked up good practice in Hajipur and District Court of Muzaffarpur. He practiced law for some period, and later discontinued in order to devote more to the Indian independence movement.

Political Life:

Pre-Independence:

He joined the Indian Independence Movement with his participation in the Salt March, popularly known as the ‘Dandi March’ in 1930. In 1939, Patel was elected as the Chairman in the local board elections of Hajipur and resigned from the position in 1941 to join the Civil Disobedience Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi. On the eve of the August Rebellion, Patel was blacklisted in Group "A" as Labour, Socialist and Terrorist Leader, classification I with Basawon Singh, Deep Narayan Singh, Rambriksh Benipuri, Narayan Prasad Verma and other leaders of Muzaffarpur District by the colonial government of Bihar Province. In 1935 he was arrested in connection with the Tirhut Conspiracy Case. After remaining in jail for several months he was ultimately released. He was arrested several times by the British during the Independence Movement.

Bir Chand Patel was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary in Development Department of the Interim Bihar State Government in 1946.

Post-Independence:

Post the Independence of India, Birchand Patel became the deputy minister for Agriculture in Sri Krishna Sinha Government in 1952. He was made Food, Health Supply & Agriculture Minister and Deputy Finance Minister of Bihar in the year 1957. He served as Minister of Finance and Agriculture departments of Bihar in the Binodanand Jha cabinet from 1961 to 1963. He held the position of Land Revenue Minister in the Krishna Ballabh Sahay Cabinet from 1963 to 1966. Patel remained an elected Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Bihar continuously for more than 15 years in Independent India. He was elected as an MLA from Mahua Constituency in the first Bihar Assembly elections held in 1951 and became MLA from Lalganj (South) Constituency in the consecutive second and third Bihar Assembly elections held 1957 and 1962 respectively.

He was pitted against Krishna Ballabh Sahay in the race for the Chief Minister position by Pandit Binodanand Jha after the incumbent B.N. Jha had to resign under the Kamraj plan in October 1963. Patel was defeated by a significant margin of 100 votes. Despite of the defeat of Birchand Patel, the event was significant in the history of Bihar’s politics in Independent India as it was the first time a Backward Caste leader was considered a Bihar Chief Minister prospect in the Indian National Congress. About this event Francine R. Frankel in the book ‘Dominance and State Power in Modern India – Decline of a Social Order Vol. I’ writes inter alia, “..Since it was ‘deemed almost unpalatable amongst so-called “prominent castes” to accept a Backward caste as their leader’, the bhumihars, rajputs and kayasthas suddenly combined to support the candidacy of K.B.Sahay, a kayastha, who formed the government…”

Consequently, the contest against Bir Chand Patel, first time, led to a backward castes’ majority in the Bihar Cabinet in Independent India under then Chief Minister K.B. Sahay.

It was Bir Chand Patel, as Agriculture Minister of Bihar, who tabled the historic ‘Bihar Agriculture Produce Markets Bill’ in Bihar Assembly that was passed to become an Act in 1960 that envisaged formation of Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC) in Bihar.

Demise:

Bir Chand Patel died due to heart attack on 07 December 1966 in Patna at an early age of about 56 years. It is remarkable that in the short span of his life he earned such a value in Indian Political arena that senior leadership in the Indian National Congress (INC) could not afford to overlook his persona and mass appeal. He held position of a minister in every Bihar state Assembly since the first (in 1952) till his death. It is not surprising that he was contender for the Chief Minister post of Bihar against Krishna Ballabh Sahay in 1963 in the INC, who was 10 years senior to Bir Chand Patel. Though Patel lost to Sahay in the Chief Ministerial race, many in the political arena of Bihar saw Patel as a future Chief Minister. His sudden demise due to heart attack in 1966 however shattered the hopes of many. He resided in Government quarter no. 5 on the erstwhile Gardiner Road which was later renamed after him as Beer Chand Patel Path.

In his tribute to Bir Chand Patel, Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan wrote:

“It was only the other day on Rajendra Babu’s birth anniversary that I had heard him speak at the Sadaqat Ashram and found him so hale and hearty. So, I could hardly believe the terrible news when it was communicated to me last night. In his death, the country has suffered a grievous loss. Biru Babu was still comparatively young and had a great future before him. Among politicians he was an exception, in that he was a person of innate culture and refinement and a lover of books and ideas. His memory will ever remain an inspiration to the younger generation.”

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