Dwarka Prasad Mishra

Pt. Dwarka Prasad Mishra (1901–1988), an Indian National Congress politician, was a Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. He was also a writer.[1]

Pt. Dwarka Prasad Mishra
Born1901
Unnao, North-West Provinces, British India
Died1988 (aged 86-87)
NationalityIndian
OccupationPolitician
Known forChief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
ChildrenAwadesh Chandra Mishra, Brajesh Chandra Mishra, Durga Mishra Hridayesh Chandra Mishra, Naresh Chandra Mishra

A great freedom fighter & diplomat, he belonged to village Padari in Unnao. As a poet he composed Mahakavya- 'Krishnayan'. He became the Chief Minister of M.P. after Ravi Shanker Shukla.[2]

Personal life

Brajesh Mishra, former National Security Advisor of India, is his son. Sudhir Mishra, bollywood film director is his grandson. IIITDM Jabalpur is opened on his name.

Journalism

Mishra was a politician and a journalist and author. He had edited three Hindi journals Lokmat, Sharda and Saarthi. His epic poem Krishnayana was critically acclaimed. In 1937, he was elected as MLA and joined cabinet in Central Provinces and Berar under Chief ministership of N B Khare
He was among the three ministers, along with Ravi Shankar Shukla and D S Mehta, who were sacked by the Governor in June 1938 on the recommendation of Khare.

Political work

This episode resulted in disciplinary action against Khare by Indian National Congress and his ouster as Chief minister. Mishra joined the new cabinet under Ravi Shankar Shukla and served till October 1939.

Chief Minister

He was twice 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 (Chief Minister, UP) were instrumental in getting the power sharing formula between Indira Gandhi and Morarjee Desai post 1967 elections. It gave the Deputy PM post to Desai, but the agreement broke down in 1969 and Congress split.

Writings

His books evoked critical response owing to his being insider of power politics in period after Nehru's death. He wrote

  • Living an Era:India's March to freedom (Part one of Memoirs covering period up to 1947)
  • The Nehru Epoch:From Democracy to Monocracy (Part two of memoirs critiquing time from 1947 to 1964)
  • The Post Nehru Era:Political Memoirs (Third and concluding part of memoirs showing India in post nehru era up to 1980s)
  • The search for Lanka (Famous for proposing the thesis that Ramayana's Lanka was in Madhya Pradesh instead of Sri Lanka)

His memoirs became controversial as they included a letter from Patel to Mishra dated to July 1946 criticising Nehru for "Juvenile Mistakes". Congress members questioned authenticity of 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.

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References
  1. "Dwarka prasad Mishra | कलम के पुजारी : पं. द्वारका प्रसाद मिश्र". Hindi.webdunia.com. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  2. http://unnao.nic.in/Personali.htm
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