Dwarka Prasad Mishra (1901–1988) was an Indian politician, writer and journalist. He was a member of the

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 E ...

and served as the

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is the chief executive of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the ch ...

for two terms during the 1960s. 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 ...

and diplomat, he was from Padari a village in

Unnao Unnao is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Unnao district and a part of Lucknow division, between Kanpur and Lucknow. Unnao is a large industrial city with three industrial suburbs around it ...

. As a poet he composed the

mahakavya Mahākāvya (lit. great kāvya, court epic), also known as ''sargabandha'', is a genre of Indian epic poetry in Classical Sanskrit. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of scenery, love, battles and so on — in short, eve ...

, ''Krishnayana'' (). He became the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh after Ravi Shankar Shukla.Personalities
''unnao.nic.in''.

Chief Minister

He served two terms as the chief minister of the state from 30 September 1963 to 8 March 1967 and 9 March 1967 to 29 July 1967. He, along with

Chandra Bhanu Gupta Chandra Bhanu Gupta (14 July 1902 – 11 March 1980) served three terms as chief minister of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In 1970s he was a member of Congress (O) and Janata Party. Early life He was born in Atrauli, Aligarh district in 190 ...

( Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh) were instrumental in getting the power sharing formula between Indira Gandhi and

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...

post the 1967 election. It gave the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

post to Desai, but the agreement broke down in 1969 and the Congress subsequently split.

Writings

His writings include: *''Living an Era: India's March to Freedom'' (part one of memoirs, covering the period up to 1947) *''The Nehru Epoch: From Democracy to Monocracy'' (part two of memoirs, critiquing the time from 1947 to 1964) *''The Post Nehru Era: Political Memoirs'' (third and concluding part of memoirs, showing India in the post Nehru era up till the 1980s) *''The search for Lanka'' (famous for proposing the thesis that

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

's Lanka was in Madhya Pradesh instead of Sri Lanka) His memoirs became controversial as they included a letter from

Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...

to Mishra dated to July 1946 criticising Nehru for "Juvenile Mistakes". Congress members questioned authenticity of the letter as well as Mishra's motives and timing of revelation. He was also active in the struggle for Indian independence and went to jail for the cause, for the first time aged 19 in 1920.

References

External links

* 1901 births 1988 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Madhya Pradesh Indian independence activists from Madhya Pradesh People from Unnao Journalists from Madhya Pradesh Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh Leaders of the Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Chief ministers from Indian National Congress 20th-century Indian journalists 20th-century Indian politicians Indian political journalists {{MadhyaPradesh-INC-politician-stub