Kailashpati Mishra (5 October 1923 – 3 November 2012) was an Indian politician. He was a leader of

Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

, and later

Bharatiya Janta Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

. He was Finance Minister of Bihar in 1977. He was Governor of Gujarat from May 2003 to July 2004.

Early life

Kailashpati Mishra was born in Dudharchak, Buxar, Bihar, into a

Bhumihar Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal. The Bhumihars claim Brahmi ...

Brahmin family on 5 October 1923. He took part in 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 ...

in 1942 and was arrested for the same. He was a member of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

from 1943, and was even jailed after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. While studying in class X, Mr. Mishra was arrested for picketing at the main gate of his school at Buxar in support of 1942

Political career

Kailash Pati Mishra contested 1971 Lok Sabha election on Jana Sangh's ticket from

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. ...

but lost. He won the Bihar Vidhan Sabha election for Bikram seat in 1977, and was appointed finance minister in the Janata Party government of

Karpoori Thakur Karpoori Thakur (24 January 1924 – 17 February 1988) was an Indian politician from the Bihar state. He was popularly known as Jan Nayak (Hindi for people's hero). He served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from December 1970 to June 1971 (Socia ...

. In 1980, he became the first BJP Bihar president when the party was founded. He also served as BJP national Vice President from 1995 to 2003. He was appointed governor of Gujarat in 2003, and for a short duration he was caretaker

Governor of Rajasthan A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

following the death of the incumbent Governor Nirmal Chandra Jain. After the BJP's government's defeat in 2004 polls, Mishra was removed from his post as governor by the Congress Government. Known as the Bhishma Pitamaha of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

in Bihar, Mishra was away from direct political activities for the last two years of his life due to old age, but remained a source of inspiration for the party. He was also liked by the socialists due to his participation in JP's 1974 anti-Congress agitations. Born in 1923 in Bihar's Buxar, Mishra was a lifelong bachelor. On his death in 2012 at the age of 89, Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unite ...

, his deputy and senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi visited his residence to pay condolence. Indian government issued a postal stamp in his honour in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mishra, Kailashpati 1923 births 2012 deaths Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Bihar Indian independence activists from Bihar Indian autobiographers Indian Hindus Indian memoirists Governors of Gujarat Governors of Rajasthan Members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly Rajya Sabha members from Bihar People from Buxar district Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians Janata Party politicians