Sarat Chandra Sinha

Sarat Chandra Sinha (1914-2005) was a Chief Minister of Assam and a great leader of Indian National Congress, Indian National Congress (Socialist) and Nationalist Congress Party. He was very popular leader among the masses because of his bold approach, honesty and integrity throughout his political life. He was also a writer.

Early life and education

Born on January 1, 1914 in a poor farmer's family in "Bhakatpara" village of Chapar under Dhubri district, Sinha started schooling from his village school. For secondary education, he attended a High School in Bilasipara, some 25 km from his home, a distance what he covered daily on foot or by bicycle. He received his bachelor degree from the Cotton College, Guwahati and subsequently moved to Banaras Hindu University for master degree and law education. After getting a law degree, Sinha came back to Guwahati and practised law for a short period and then switched to teaching in different positions from assistant teacher to headmaster in Dhubri district.

Political career

Sinha entered politics in 1946 through Indian National Congress and elected to Assam state assembly four times from Bilasipara east constituency. He was first made an interim chief minister in 1972 by Indira Gandhi and subsequently became an elected chief minister and served till 1978. He also served the Congress party in various positions and capacities like general secretary, vice-president and president. However, he later joined Congress (S) after the emergency era which was imposed by Indira Gandhi. Sinha faced some challenging task in his tenure of chief ministership like shifting the state capital from Shillong to Dispur, when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam along with Shillong and the language agitation, which rocked the state, a demand for the introduction of Assamese as the sole medium of instruction in Assam. When Sharad Pawar left the Congress to form the Nationalist Congress Party, he joined him and led the party in Assam till his death. He was also known as a champion of the Cooperative and Panchayati Raj movements and strived hard to bring reforms in these sectors. He died on December 25, 2005 at his Guwahati residence due to old age ailments.

References

* [http://assamassembly.gov.in/cm-list.html/ Assam Legislative Assembly - Chief Ministers since 1937]
* [http://pmindia.nic.in/prelease/pcontent.asp?id=372/ Press Release, Prime Minister's Office]
* [http://news.indiainfo.com/2005/12/25/2512sarat-chandra-sinha-deceased.html/ Former Assam CM Sarat Chandra Sinha deceased - Indiainfo.com]