Krishna Ballabh Sahay ( hi, कृष्ण बल्लभ सहाय; 31 December 1898 – 3 June 1974) ,fondly known as

K B Sahay Krishna Ballabh Sahay ( hi, कृष्ण बल्लभ सहाय; 31 December 1898 – 3 June 1974) ,fondly known as K B Sahay was an Indian freedom fighter, who after Indian Independence became the Revenue Minister of Bihar and then ...

was an

Indian freedom fighter The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

, who after Indian Independence became the Revenue Minister of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

and then became the fourth Chief Minister of unified

Early life

Krishna Ballabh Sahay popularly known as K.B.Sahay was born in an

Ambashtha Ambashtha or Ambastha is a caste or sub-caste or a community of Hindus in India. According to Hindu scriptures, the term Ambastha refers to the offspring of a Brahmin father and a Vaishya mother, whose traditional occupation was the practice of m ...

Kayastha Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the C ...

Sanatan family on 31st December 1898 at

Sheikhpura Sheikhpura is a town and a municipality in Sheikhpura district in the Indian state of Bihar. Sheikhpura is also an administrative headquarter of Sheikhpura district. Postal code PIN code of Sheikhpura post office is 811105. Postal code for ...

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

district of

. He was the eldest son of Munshi Ganga Prasad, who served as a

Darogha Darogas (also spelled darogha or daroghah) were police officials in the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. In the Mughal Empire, a daroga was superintendent of the "slaves" of a Mughal monarch. Duties performed by daroga The darogas served in the ...

under British Rule

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

at Padma

Hazaribagh Hazaribagh is a city and a municipal corporation in Hazaribagh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the divisional headquarters of North Chotanagpur division. It is considered as a health resort and is also popular for Hazaribagh ...

. In 1919, he graduated with first class in B.A. Hons. English from St. Columba's College, Hazaribagh then affiliated to

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

Awards

He was awarded the Sir Edward Albert Gait Gait's Gold Medal from the then Governor of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

Mr. Gait for his excellence in English Language for his coherence & cohesion. His works are kept in Bihar Assembly. Indian National Congress Pays their tributes to

K B SAHAY Krishna Ballabh Sahay ( hi, कृष्ण बल्लभ सहाय; 31 December 1898 – 3 June 1974) ,fondly known as K B Sahay was an Indian freedom fighter, who after Indian Independence became the Revenue Minister of Bihar and then ...

every year on his Birth Anniversary.

Independence movement

Soon thereafter in 1920, Sri Krishna Ballabh Sahay jumped into the fray giving up further studies by joining the

Civil Disobedience Movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

at the call of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. 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 this bond of friendship remained intact throughout their lives. He was also close to

Anugrah Narayan Sinha Anugrah Narayan Sinha (18 June 1887 – 5 July 1957), known as '' Bihar Vibhuti'', was an Indian nationalist statesman, participant in Champaran Satyagraha, Gandhian & one of the architects of modern Bihar, who was the first Deputy Chief Minis ...

, the other legendary nationalist from

. Came 1942 and with it came Gandhi's battle cry of "Do or Die" for the "

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

". 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

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

from jail along with his associates namely Rama Nandan Mishra, Yogendra Shukla, Suraj Narayan Singh, Sri Gulab Chand Gupta and Sri Shaligram Singh on 9 November 1942. As a consequence, he was sent off to

Bhagalpur Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Silk ...

jail with orders for rigorous imprisonment.

Political life

Earlier, when provincial autonomy was granted by the British Raj, Shri 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 A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

had a great bearing on his mind. At a meeting at

Chhapra Chhapra is a city and headquarters of the Saran district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated near the junction of the Ghaghara River and the Ganges River. Chhapra grew in importance as a river-based market in the 18th century when th ...

on 11 May 1942, presided over by

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

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 The Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar is the seniormost cabinet member of the state government who serves as the de-facto second head of the state. He is the second highest ranking executive authority of the state's council of ministers. The curr ...

Anugrah Babu, also came from zamindar families. Sri Babu asked him to arrange a public meeting at his native place Tarapur in

Munger Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern In ...

. 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. Krishna Ballabh Sahay single handedly reversed the

Permanent Settlement The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land that had far-reaching consequences for both agricultural met ...

Act of 1793 enacted by Marquess of Cornwallis. 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 reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

s in the formative 1950s and '60s. Bihar was the first to introduce legislation to abolish zamindari. But

Patna High Court The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915. The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, In ...

struck down the Act, as did the Supreme Court. It was this that led an exasperated

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

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 Giridih is headquarters of the Giridih district of Jharkhand state, India. The city of Giridih is known for its industrial and health sectors, as well as its scenic beauty. Giridih houses the Giridih Coalfield which is one of the oldest coalfi ...

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

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 A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

. 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

Binodanand Jha Binodanand Jha (17 April 1900 – 1971), also known as Pandit Binodanand Jha was an Indian politician originally from the district of Deoghar, Bihar (Baidyanathdham Deoghar), now in Jharkhand. He was educated at the Central Calcutta College, ( ...

being taken as one of the eight Chief Ministers to look after the affairs of

Congress Party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. Beer Chand Patel threw his hat in the contest for the Chief Minister of Bihar. Sahay who was deputy minister in Jha's cabinet was the other contestant.

Satyendra Narayan Sinha Satyendra Narayan Sinha (12 July 1917 – 4 September 2006) was an Indian politician and statesman, participant in the Indian independence movement, a leading light of Jaya Prakash Narayan's ‘ ''complete revolution''’ movement during the E ...

, the prominent Education Minister, who was decidedly second-in-command in the

Cabinet announced his support for Sahay. Patel was no match for Sahay, who polled double the number of votes as Patel. On 2 October 1963, the birth anniversary of Gandhi was celebrated in Bihar along with the swearing in ceremony of Sahay as the fourth Chief Minister of Bihar with

again becoming second in command. Sahay lost the 1967 elections but won the local body elections in 1974 to enter the

Bihar Legislative Council Bihar Vidhan Parishad, also known as Bihar Legislative Council, is the upper house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India. History A new Province of Bihar and Odisha was created by the Government of India on 12 Decem ...

as an MLC. He faced enquiries by the Aiyyar Commission in between but was vindicated. Sahay met with a fatal road accident on 3 June 1974 just after winning the election, on his way back to his native place

Hazaribag Hazaribagh is a city and a municipal corporation in Hazaribagh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the divisional headquarters of North Chotanagpur division. It is considered as a health resort and is also popular for Hazaribagh ...

. 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, 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 dream of an independent India and an ever progressing Bihar for which he sacrificed his whole life.

Gallery

File:Constitution of India (calligraphic) 461.jpg,

Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

File:KJSAHAI.png, alt=, Family Tree of Mr. K.B.Sahay

Assassination

was assassinated on 3 June 1974, in a deliberate mishap wherein a truck on

Highway in Sindoor suddenly put its brakes and backedup while Mr. Sahay was on the front seat of his black

Hindustan Ambassador The Hindustan Ambassador is an automobile manufactured by Hindustan Motors of India from 1957 to 2014, with improvements and changes over its production lifetime. The Ambassador was based on the Morris Oxford series III model, first made by Mor ...

registration number BRM 201 (being driven by Surendra) by the criminalized sections of the Indira

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, his rival Party who were against his rise in the

politics & had filed false cases against

as he opposed & abolished the

Zamindari A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

system of

Ramgarh Raj Ramgarh Raj was the major ''Zamindari'' estate in the era of the British Raj in the former Indian province of Bihar. Territories which comprised the Ramgarh Raj presently constitute districts of Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, Chatra, Giridih, Koderma, ...

. His statue inside a large triangular park can be witnessed by all commuters to Hazaribagh from the National Highway 33 built by his first Son, Chief Engineer of Bihar, Shri Neelkanth Prasad.His third son Shri Rameshwar Prasad popularly known as Ram Babu (Criminal Lawyer) was the only one from his family to be in the field of politics and became Member of Legislative Council while

was alive also and post his death from

party. Currently his grandson Manoj Sahay from

Tilaiya Tilaiya is a village in the Chandwara CD block in the Koderma subdivision of the Koderma district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Tilaiya is located at . Overview Koderma district is plateau territory and around 60% of ...

is associated with the party. His grandson Prashant Sahay popularly known as Dimlu (animal lover), a criminal lawyer and PIL Activist ran for elections but exposed the Mafia Nexus in the Coal Mine Belt of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

and was killed in September 2004.

Industries and Education

Shree Krishna Ballabh Sahay was responsible for setting up of several industries in the state, prominent among them are the

Barauni Refinery Barauni Refinery is an oil refinery located in Begusarai city in the state of Bihar, operated by Indian Oil Corporation. It was the dream project of Shri krishna Sinha the first chief minister of Bihar. It was built in collaboration with the ...

, and the

Bokaro Steel Plant Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) is located in the Bokaro district of Jharkhand. It is the fourth integrated public sector steel plant in India built with Soviet Union, Soviet help. It was incorporated as a limited company in 1964. It was later merged ...

. Both were commissioned during his tenure as Chief Minister of Bihar. The

Heavy Engineering Corporation Heavy Engineering Corporation Limited or "HECL" is a Public Sector Undertaking ("PSU") in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. HECL was established in the year 1958 Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

where the current

Jharkhand Government The Government of Jharkhand also known as the State Government of Jharkhand, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Jharkhand and its Districts of Jharkhand, 24 districts. It consists of an exec ...

runs, was commissioned during his tenure. As the Chief Minister of Bihar, he gave full support for the establishment of Sainik School for

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...

. He was also instrumental in starting women's college in

in 1963, which is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahay, K. B. 1974 deaths 1898 births Chief Ministers of Bihar Members of the Bihar Legislative Council People from Patna district Indian independence activists from Bihar Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Indian National Congress politicians from Bihar Prisoners and detainees of British India 20th-century Indian politicians https://twitter.com/mib_india/status/1609125799675990016?s=46&t=tTUr3qdnOXR7ZPm7PGhzhg