Kedar Pandey (14 June 1920 – 3 July 1982) was an Indian freedom fighter and

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 ...

politician, who remained the Chief Minister of Bihar from March 1972 to 2 July 1973, and

Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure. ...

in the Union Cabinet from 12 November 1980 to 14 January 1982 as a part of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

Personal life

His father's name was the late Pandit Ramphal Panday. He was born at Taulaha Village, West Champaran District on June 14, 1920. His early schooling took place in Paroraha village along with

Vikas Mishra Vikas Mishra (born 27 December 1992) is an Indian first-class cricketer. He was also a member of Indian Premier League team Delhi Daredevils. Vikas was also a part of 15 member Indian squad to 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. In July 2018 ...

. Later on, both were imprisoned during the Indian freedom movement. He married Smt. Kamla Panday on June 6, 1948. He was the father of two sons, including Dr. Manoj Pandey, and two daughters. He did M.Sc. and LL.B from

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

. By profession, he was an agriculturist as well as a political worker and advocate. He practised in the District Courts of

Motihari Motihari is the headquarters of East Champaran district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Bihar. It is located District entry point and New City 40.09 kilometres Northeast Mehsi. north of the state capital Patna. Geograp ...

and

Bettiah Bettiah is a city and administrative headquarters of West Champaran district ( Tirhut Division) - (Tirhut), near Indo-Nepal border, north-west of Patna, in Bihar state of India. History In 1244 A.D., Gangeshwar Dev, a Bhumihar Brahmin of ...

from 1945 to 1948. He also enrolled as an advocate in the Patna High Court in 1949.

Freedom Movement

Before independence, he participated in the Freedom Movement in 1942. Pandey was a part of the famous Young Turks of Bihar Congress during the independence movement along with

Bindeshwari Dubey Bindeshwari Dubey (14 January 1921 – 20 January 1993) was a freedom fighter, trade unionist and politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar between 12 March 1985 and 13 February 1988. Dubey was involved in the nationalisation of India ...

Bhagwat Jha Azad Bhagwat Jha Azad was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. He served as List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief minister of Bihar from 14 February 1988 to 10 March 1989. He was at various times a member of parliament and a member of the Bi ...

Chandrashekhar Singh Chandrashekhar Singh (17 August 1927 - 9 July 1986) was a member of the Indian National Congress and served as the 16th Chief Minister of Bihar from August 1983 to March 1985. He also held a number of Union State Minister positions in the Min ...

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 ...

Abdul Ghafoor ʻAbd al-Ghaffār (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الغفار) is a male Muslim given name, and, in modern usage, surname, built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and '' al-Ghaffār'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to th ...

all future chief ministers and

Sitaram Kesri Sitaram Kesri (15 November 1919 – 24 October 2000) was an Indian politician and parliamentarian. He became a union minister and served as President of the Indian National Congress from 1996 to 1998. __TOC__ Political career Pre-Independenc ...

, future national president of Indian National Congress. He participated in the Trade Union Movement from 1946 to 57.

Political career

In the first General Elections held in 1957, he contested the

Bagaha Bagaha is a city and a municipality in the district of Pashchim Champaran in the state of Bihar, India. It is a subdivision of Pashchim Champaran district and is a Police District. It is located around northwest of its district headquarters ...

legislative constituency of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha and won. He served as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Police, Irrigation & Power among other portfolios from 1957 to 1962. He was again elected to the

Bihar Vidhan Sabha The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the Bihar Legislature where the first elections were held in 1952. The total strength of membership in the Assembly was 331, including one nominated m ...

in the Nautan constituency, serving from 1967 to 1977 holding ministerial portfolios such as Industry and Agriculture. He was the Health Minister of Bihar from 27 September 1973 to 11 April 1975 in the

Abdul Gafoor ʻAbd al-Ghaffār (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الغفار) is a male Muslim given name, and, in modern usage, surname, built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and '' al-Ghaffār'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to th ...

cabinet. He was imprisoned for 11 months, courted arrest three times during 1977-79, when

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

was arrested. Post-Emergency, he was named

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) is the political unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of Bihar. Its head office is situated in Patna at the Sadaqat Ashram. The current working presidents are Shyam Sunder Singh Dhee ...

President in 1977. He was Vice-Chairman of Bihar

Indian National Trade Union Congress Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) is a national trade union in India. It was founded on 3 May 1947 and is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, ...

. He was Chief Minister of Bihar from March 1972 to 2 July 1973. In 1980 Congress (I) provided a ticket from

and he became a member of parliament

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

. He was

as well as

Ministry of Rural Development Ministry of Rural Development may refer to: * Ministry of Rural Development (Cambodia) * Ministry of Rural Development (Hungary) * Ministry of Rural Development (India) * Ministry of Rural Development (Malaysia) Ministry of Rural Development may r ...

from 12 November 1980 to 14 January 1982.

Special interests

Science and Mathematics.

Travels abroad

Round the world trip; U.S.A. (1968) U.K. (1974), South East Asian countries, Japan, U.S.S.R., and Hungary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandey, Kedar 1920 births 1982 deaths Chief Ministers of Bihar Bihar MLAs 1957–1962 Bihar MLAs 1969–1972 Bihar MLAs 1952–1957 Bihar MLAs 1972–1977 Bihar MLAs 1977–1980 India MPs 1980–1984 Railway Ministers of India Banaras Hindu University alumni Indian National Congress politicians from Bihar Lok Sabha members from Bihar Chief ministers from Indian National Congress