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B. P. Mandal

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Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal
7th Chief Minister of Bihar
In office
1 February 1968 – 2 March 1968
Preceded bySatish Prasad Singh
Succeeded byBhola Paswan Shastri
Member of the Indian Parliament
for Madhepura
In office
1967–1972
Succeeded byRajendra Prasad Yadav
In office
1977–1980
Preceded byRajendra Prasad Yadav
Succeeded byRajendra Prasad Yadav
Personal details
Born(1918-08-25)25 August 1918
Died13 April 1982(1982-04-13) (aged 63)
NationalityIndian
Parent

Babu Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal (25 August 1918 – 13 April 1982) was a scion of the erstwhile Murho Estate and an Indian politician who chaired the Mandal Commission. Mandal came from a rich Yadav landlord family[1][2] from Madhepura in Northern Bihar.[3] He served as the seventh Chief Minister of Bihar in 1968, but he resigned after 30 days.[4] As a parliamentarian, he served as the chairman of the Second Backward Classes Commission, popularly known as the Mandal Commission. The commission's report mobilized a segment of the Indian population known as "Other Backward Classes" (OBCs) and initiated a fierce debate on policies related to underrepresented and underprivileged groups in Indian politics.[5]

Biography

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Babu B. P. Mandal was born into the wealthy Hindu (Yadav)[6][7] family in Madhepura district of Bihar.[1][2][8]

Political career

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In 1941, at the age of 23, he became a member of the Bhagalpur district council.[9] In 1952, during the first general elections for the state assembly of Bihar, Mandal won the Madhepura assembly seat on a Congress ticket against Bhupendra Narayan Mandal from the Socialist Party.[9] B. P. Mandal always considered Narayan Mandal as influential in formulating socialist notions and establishing Madhepura as a place for promotion of socialism. In Pama, local Rajput landlords of the Pama village in Bihar attacked a Kurmi village, leading to police atrocities against backward-class citizens; Mandal made headlines in newspapers all across the nation for requesting immediate government action against the police and compensation for victims during the Bihar assembly session.[9] Pressure to rescind his request caused him to move to the opposition bench and fight for the cause, which humiliated the ruling party.[9] Impressed by his actions, Ram Manohar Lohia made him president of his Samyukta Socialist Party.[9] Subsequently, he fought and won Lok Sabha elections in Bihar on the ticket of the Samyukta Socialist Party and was appointed to head the Ministry of Health in State Government.

Later, he left the Samyukta Socialist Party due to differences with Lohia and formed a new party called Shoshit Dal, in March 1967.[9] He took the oath as the seventh Chief Minister of Bihar on 1 February 1968.[9][10] However, as he was member of the Lower House, he was required to be a member of the Bihar Assembly in order to continue in the post of Chief Minister.[9] Satish Singh, an MLA of his party, was made Chief Minister for four days before Mandal became a member of the Legislative Council and took charge as Chief Minister again.[9] It was during this time that the ministry comprised primarily representatives from OBCs rather than upper castes.[9] Though the government lasted only 47 days, this radical shift in the representation paradigm brought a new spirit in Indian politics.[9] Mandal had to resign as Chief Minister after serving for only 30 days, protesting Congress's removal of the Aiyar Commission headed by T. L. Venkatrama Aiyar, to cater to charges of corruption against several ministers and senior Congress leaders.[9] He became a Lok Sabha member again in 1968 when he contested and won by-elections again from Madhepura parliamentary constituency without much challenge. Mandal teamed up with Jayaprakash Narayan and resigned from the Bihar Assembly, protesting a corrupt Congress administration. In 1977, he contested Lok Sabha elections from Madhepura constituency on a Janata Party ticket and won, serving until 1979.[9][clarification needed]

Civil rights commission

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In December 1978, Prime Minister Morarji Desai appointed a five-member civil rights commission, with Mandal as chairman.[9] Mandal's longstanding support for the depressed classes resulted in the formation of this commission, popularly known as the "Mandal Commission" or "Backward Classes Commission".[9] The commission's report was completed in 1980 and recommended that a significant proportion of all government and educational places be reserved for applicants from the Other Backward Classes, socially-deprived communities that had historically been treated as outcasts and denied job opportunities as well as proper education in the public institutions that were upper-caste dominant at the time.[5]

The commission's report was tabled indefinitely by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. A decade later, Prime Minister V. P. Singh implemented the recommendations of the Mandal Report, leading to what is now known as the caste-reservation system in India, which came into effect in 1993 after the Supreme Court gave a go-ahead for its implementation in a historic November 1992 judgement known as Indra Sawhney.[9][5]

The Mandal commission was not well received by a number of upper-caste communities, leading to nation-wide protests and uproar. Students from upper caste saw their educational opportunities under threat; many of the people from these castes continue to consider the policies to be unnecessary and biased.[5]

Commemoration

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Various statues and memorials were made in his memory in the state; and one of the most significant ones stands in front of the governor's house in Patna. His birthday is celebrated annually in a formal ceremony led by his son, Manindra Kumar Mandal, other family members in their village, and the Chief Minister and other cabinet members of the state in Patna, Sasaram, and various other places.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Kumar, Sajjan (24 October 2020). "In Bihar, the importance of being Nitish Kumar". Retrieved 22 December 2020. The vanguard of this strand was BP Mandal, a big Yadav landlord.
  2. ^ a b Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar. Penguin Books India. 1 January 2011. p. 53. ISBN 9780670084593.
  3. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (1 January 2010). Religion, Caste, and Politics in India. Primus Books. ISBN 9789380607047.
  4. ^ "Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal Biography". newstrend.news. Newstrend. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d Maheshwari, Shriram (1991). The Mandal Commission and Mandalisation: A Critique. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 18–26. ISBN 9788170223382.
  6. ^ Mandal Commission Report: Myth and Reality : a National View Point. H.K. Publishers and Distributors. 1991. ISBN 978-81-85318-48-6.
  7. ^ Paswan, Sanjay (2002). Encyclopaedia of Dalits in India: Struggle for self liberation. Gyan Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7835-066-0.
  8. ^ Witsoe, Jeffrey (2013). Democracy against Development: Lower-Caste Politics and Political Modernity in Postcolonial India. University of Chicago Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780226063508.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Arvind, Kumar (25 August 2018). "Remembering B. P. Mandal, the Man Behind India's Silent Revolution". The Wire. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  10. ^ Witsoe, Jeffrey (2013). Democracy against Development: Lower-Caste Politics and Political Modernity in Postcolonial India. University of Chicago Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780226063508.
  11. ^ "on-bp-mandal-s-100th-birth-anniversary-nitish-rjd-and-ljp-vie-for-his-legacy". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
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