Bhubaneswar: Very powerful political episodes happened in Odisha in 60’s are presented in lucid manner in the well written book- Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo- A Man Among Princes. This is about Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo, who established himself as the most significant political personality not only in Odisha but also at national-level.
Insightful authors—Pabitra Mohan Nayak and V R Singh—uncovered versatile personality that lay hidden within Maharaja R N Singh Deo.
Sample some of the incidents, which reveal Maharaja’s integrity, honesty and compassionate approach towards commoners is presented in the book.
It was time to hand over the charge of his princely state Patna to the administrator, Prafulla Chandra Tripathy. The royal treasury had around Rs 52 lakh. While his counterparts drained the treasury dry, Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo refunded the treasury with Rs 76 lakh that were borrowed towards the marriage of his daughter, and passed on the treasury intact.
When his officers advised him to drain the treasury to the last coin like the other rulers of the Garjats, the Maharaja replied, “I was born the second son of my father. I was not the first born. I was made a ruler. I have no right over the money of the people. It belongs to them.”
During his rule in Patna, an angry man from Tusra, 30 km south of Balangir, reached the gate of the palace with an axe in his hands and his wife stood beside him. He was shouting against the Maharaja, blaming him for taking away his land. Instead of handing him over to the police, the Maharaja asked his men to massage the agitated man’s head with oil, give him a cold bath and new clothes to wear.
The Maharaja took both the man and his wife in his own car to the attestation camp and not only settled down his issue, warned the concerned official that he will sack him from service if such a thing will be repeated.
These two above incidents show his large heartiness. He was not only a level-headed ruler, but every inch a true gentleman.
He was called Maharaja in popular parlance, a rare respect given by the people in independent and democratic India. Some ministers would even forward files with handwritten notes saying, ‘Maharaja may decide’. However, he was not fond of this nomenclature.
Having lost a formidable battle in Parliament to bring Seraikela and Kharsawan into Odisha, Rajendra, on 12 September 1956, announced the decision of his party to resign from the Lok Sabha. He formally resigned from Parliament in November 1956.
He was then elected to the Orissa Assembly in 1957, an era that heralded coalition politics. A big political equation in the history of Odisha was waiting for the Maharaja.
On one quiet evening in May 1958, Biju Patnaik’s car stopped before the official residence of Raja Bir Udit Pratap Shekhar Deo of Gangpur, who was GP’s (Maharaja’s party) MLA from Sundergarh.
At that time, Biju Patnaik was sure that there was no solution without a coalition with Rajendra Narayan.
Though Congress high command had been skeptical initially, Biju succeeded in convincing them. Biswanath Das, the president of the Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee, protested. Still, Biju succeeded in his motto.
Recognizing his leadership and popularity, Biju had invited the Maharaja for lunch at his residence in Cuttack. The proposal, mooted in May 1958 at the Gangpur Raja’s drawing room, took a year to mature. The new coalition has won 111 out of 140 MLA seats in Odisha Assembly.
A week later, on 22 May 1959, the coalition government took the oath of office with Mahatab once again as CM. Radhanath Rath from the Congress and Rajendra Narayan from the Parishad were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers. Rajendra was allocated the portfolios of finance, law and industry.
The entire rejig of the government was due to the background laid by Biju Patnaik; he had not only managed to strengthen the government, but also brought a powerful opposition (Rajendra Narayan) to support it. Biju’s role and outstanding negotiation skills were no doubt responsible for several paradigm shifts in Orissa’s politics later.
But the coalition continued for only 3 years and 10 months. Following which, President’s rule was imposed in Odisha for the first time on 25 February 1961. In the next Assembly poll in June 1961, Congress got a full majority by winning 82 out of 140 seats and formed the government under the Chief Ministership of Biju Patnaik.
In March 1962, Rajendra Narayan’s party merged with Swatantra Party as the policies and programs of the party were remarkably similar.
In the next Assembly election held in 1967, Swatantra Party with Odisha unit head Rajendra Narayan, became a strong political force in the state extending its sphere of influence in coastal areas also.
Rajendra Narayan became the CM of the first non-Congress government in the country following the pre-poll alliance between the Orissa Jana Congress and the Swatantra Party.
The oath-taking ceremony took place on 8 March 1967. While Pabitra Mohan Pradhan of the Orissa Jana Congress became the Deputy CM, Sadashiva Tripathy, the previous Congress CM, became the leader of the opposition.
As promised, one of the first steps by the coalition government was to set up a one-man enquiry commission to look into these charges against CMs and ministers between 1961 and 1967.
During his CM tenure, Rajendra Narayan had appointed Justice J.R. Mudholkar of the Supreme Court of India to enquire into the allegations in the interest of integrity in public life. No CM had ever had the courage to institute a commission of enquiry against him. It was a unique precedent and the erstwhile Maharaja created history in keeping with his clean image.
In October 1967, the Rajendra Narayan government appointed Justice Hans Raj Khanna of the Delhi High Court to head the Commission of Inquiry against Biju Patnaik.
In its report, officially revealed on 15 January 1969, the Khanna Commission, instead of incriminating him, gave Biju Patnaik credit for the great economic prosperity of Orissa during his Chief Ministership and lauded him for the construction of the Paradip Port, a landmark achievement in the history of Orissa.
The only charge the Commission found valid was administrative impropriety. It was a reasonable charge and perceived as unavoidable while hastening the progress of the state. This exonerated the former CM and improved his public image.
In the midst of thundering applause, Biju Patnaik declared in a public meeting in Cuttack that he would commit a thousand such improprieties in the interest of Orissa’s development. His popularity began rising again.
It was during his regime Odisha became the first state in India to appoint Lokayukta. This shows the legendary leader’s transparent approach and disgust for corruption.
Despite the Orissa coalition government’s impressive record in the first two years, discontentment had begun to brew from within. While the Maharaja made every effort to keep the coalition alive in the interest of the state, coalition politics did not allow it. The government was dissolved in 46 months.
Rajendra Narayan was unable to engage himself in the election campaign with the same energy and enthusiasm of the past years.
Rajendra’s health deteriorated before the budget session of February 1975. He was taken to AIIMS, New Delhi, and later, he was rushed to Mumbai to the Tata Cancer Institute in Bombay. On 22 February 1975 evening, he breathed his last.
The news of his passing away spread like wildfire across the country. All national flags in the state flew at half-mast in mourning. Shops and schools were shut down and offices were closed.
Both the governments of Orissa and Maharashtra pledged to make arrangements for his mortal remains to be flown to Orissa for the final rites, as per the Maharaja’s last wishes. However, neither government managed to successfully make these arrangements in time.
His younger son, Ananga Uday Singh Deo, eventually hired a private aircraft to transport the family and the Maharaja’s remains back to Bhubaneswar.
Thousands of people gathered at the airport for a glimpse of their leader’s last journey. They were lined up on both sides of the road to see the funeral procession proceed from Bhubaneswar to Balangir.
The funeral procession was so overwhelmed by crowds that it took many hours to arrive in Balangir as it had to stop several times so that the local villagers and citizens could pay their last respects to their departed leader. All the arrangements were personally supervised by Biju Patnaik, then leader of the opposition.
The book is a must read for those who want to know about Rajendra Narayan and political scenario in Odisha during post-independence period and 1960s. The book also narrates about the relationship between Maharaja and Biju Babu and their contribution to Odisha.
However, there is no detailed account under which circumstances Rajendra Narayan’s Swatantra Party has entered into coalition with Harekrushna Mahtab’s Orissa Jana Congress, and his relationship between Biju Patnaik after he became the CM.
The writing style truly made it seamless, quick and smooth. The book covers the Maharaja’s life from his childhood, his education, swearing-in as King of Patna and his contribution for independence, in making Odisha a strong & vibrant state as Chief Minister.
As a Chief Minister of Odisha in 60’s Shri Singh Deo set an ‘Agenda for Change’ to establish a clean and stable Government keeping in mind ruthless elimination of corruption and nepotism by setting up an institution of Ombudsman. Development Agenda was his prime focus as the visionary leader ensured a new wave of development took over the State.
The book-Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo- A Man Among Princes will occupy a prominent place among significant accounts of political scenario in 60’s, one of the most turbulent period for the State.
The author duo Shri Nayak and Shri Singh having understanding how history works compel readers to read the book almost more like a work of history than a biography of a leader, who was a fearless crusader of civil liberty and constitutional propriety, while aligning himself with masses.