Shri Krishna Sinha: the maker of modern Bihar, state’s first CM

The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC), established in 1908 at the Sonepur fair, was a key player in the freedom struggle. Like its national counterpart, it was plagued by factionalism even before Independence, exacerbated by competition among leaders aspiring to become the province’s premier (equivalent to chief minister today).

The BPCC was initially dominated by English-educated Kayasthas, but by the 1920s and 1930s, the influence of Bhumihars and Rajputs grew. This created multiple rival caste-based factions within the party by the time the 1937 provincial assembly polls were held.

Shri Krishna Sinha, a Bhumihar born in 1887 in the village of Maur in present-day Sheikhpura district (then in Munger district), emerged as a towering figure in the BPCC.

A Gandhian who gave up his career as an advocate to join the Non Cooperation Movement in 1921, Sinha spent roughly eight years in prison due to his anti-colonial activities. Known as “Shri Babu” or “Bihar Kesri”, Sinha was a formidable orator, known for his “lionlike roars” while speaking in public. In the 1930s, he led a lone fight to permit the entry of Dalits at the holy Shri Baidyanath Dham shrine in Deogarh (present-day Jharkhand), one of the 12 jyotirlingas.

After the 1937 polls in Bihar, Mohammad Yunus of the Muslim Independent Party (which opposed Jinnah’s “two-nation theory”) became the premier of the province, leading a minority administration. Yunus’ government fell in just four months, after which Congress came to power.

Sinha, then the BPCC president, was sworn in as the premier. He would hold the post till 1939, and then again from 1946-47. (All Congress governments had resigned during World War II in protest against British policies). He was assisted by ally Anugrah Narayan Sinha (A N Sinha), a Rajput from Gaya, who served as his minister and later deputy chief minister.

The first Assembly elections in Bihar, like for other Indian states and for the Lok Sabha, were held between late 1951 and early 1952. With a voter base of 1.81 crore, the state of Bihar, carved out from Bengal in 1912, had a 330-seat Assembly — there were 276 constituencies in total, with 50 being two-member constituencies. The state also had a Legislative Council which, in 1952, had 72 members.

While the voter turnout in the polls was a measly 39.51%, like in the rest of India, the Congress dominated Bihar’s political landscape, enjoying mass support for its role in the freedom struggle. The party secured 239 seats, a far cry from the 32 won by Jaipal Singh Munda’s Jharkhand Party and the 23 secured by the Socialist Party.

S K Sinha continued at the helm of the party and the state (he was already serving as chief minister on an interim basis), helped by Dr Rajendra Perasad and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, who intervened to ensure his unanimous election as the Congress Legislative Party leadership. His friend A N Sinha was appointed as his deputy. Notably, both leaders, elected from Kharagpur and Nabinagar respectively, had also been members of the Constituent Assembly.

The early years of post-Independence Bihar were marked by numerous challenges; the shortage of food grain was undoubtedly the most pressing. To address food scarcity, the Centre in 1948 launched the Grow More Food (GMF) campaign, aiming at achieving self-sufficiency in food production. The campaign was launched in Bihar as well.

But perhaps the most notable reform in the agriculture sector during this time was the abolition of the zamindari system, a key Congress promise even before Inependence. Under S K Sinha’s leadership, Bihar passed the Zamindari Abolition Act in 1949, a year before similar legislation was passed in Uttar Pradesh by the G B Pant government.

Sinha thus became the first Indian leader to abolish the oppressive land revenue and ownership system concentrated wealth and power in the hands of a very few. But unlike in UP, the implementation of the Act in Bihar was ineffective. The government failed to redistribute land to the landless, leading to significant social unrest, including the eventual rise of a protracted Left-wing insurgency, or, Naxalism.

Despite internal factionalism, Sinha’s leadership remained largely unchallenged. He was re-elected as chief minister after the 1957 elections, which saw the Assembly be reduced to 318 seats, of which Congress won 210. S K Sinha now won from Sheikhpura. While factionalism resurfaced, A N Sinha conceded once again, accepting his role as a second fiddle to S K Sinha. (Tragically, A N Sinha would pass away months after the polling, in July 1957; his legacy would, however, be carried by his son Satendra Narain Sinha who went on to enjoy a brief tenure as Chief Minister in the 1980s.)

The opposition in Bihar during this period was weak. Jai Prakash Narain, a prominent Socialist leader, had quit active politics, while the influence of the Jharkhand Party was confined to tribal areas. The Praja Socialist Party and the nascent Bharatiya Jan Sangh had negligible influence. So even as the revolutionary zeal of the Congress faded, and its leaders got increasingly embroiled in power struggle, the party remained the only well-organised political force in Bihar, in no small part due to S K Sinha’s astute political management.

His tenure was marked by significant achievements. He spearheaded industrial development, most notably, the development of the Bokaro Steel Plant and the Bokaro Steel City. His government laid the foundation for central projects such as the Barauni Refinery (which was completed after his death), the Heavy Engineering Corporation in Ranchi (now in Jharkhand), and a number of fertiliser plants.

The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and the development of coal belts like Jharia (now in Jharkhand) were some of S K Sinha’s visionary initiatives. The Rajendra Setu (Simaria Bridge), the first to connect north and south Bihar across the Ganges, too remains a testimony of his tenure’s successes.

But more than anything else, S K Sinha ensured stability. Even as the neighbouring UP went through three chief ministers after Independence — G B Pant, Sampurnanand, and C B Gupta — Sinha remained in power for more than 17 years (including his time as the province’s premier pre-Independence); he died age 73 in 1961, while still in office.

Even today, his tenure remains the second-longest in Bihar’s history; it was surpassed by the incumbent Nitish Kumar only in 2023.

S K Sinha’s political legacy was carried on by his younger son, Bandi Shankar Singh, who represented Warisaliganj in the Bihar Assembly in 1980 and 1985 on a Congress ticket, before losing as an independent in 1990. In 2015, two of S K Sinha’s great grandsons contested against each other but were both defeated.

Shri Krishna Sinha’s tenure laid the groundwork for Bihar’s industrial and infrastructural development. His leadership, marked by vision and resilience, remains a defining chapter in Bihar’s political history.