Jagannath Mishra: Known as Maulana, former Bihar CM openly challenged Indira Gandhi govt

Three-time Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, convicted in the fodder scam case, died today after a prolonged illness. At 82, he breathed his last in a Delhi hospital. Jagannath Mishra was the biggest mass leader of in late 1970s and 1980s in Bihar.

Long before Lalu Prasad brought Bihar politics into national debate, it was Jagannath Mishra who taught the state leaders how to use caste and community as vote banks. After the shock of 1977 election, Jagannath Mishra converted Muslims into a solid vote bank for the Congress party by declaring Urdu as the second language of Bihar.

He was called Maulana Jagannath for his popularity and reach among the Muslims. The Muslims stayed with the Congress till Lalu Prasad created the Muslim-Yadav (MY) formula to upstage the party from power in Bihar. The Congress has not won a majority in Bihar since then.

The political rise of Jagannath Mishra, who was a lecturer in Bihar University, was mercurial and incidental. His elder brother Lalit Narayan Mishra was a tall Congress leader and the railway minister in the Indira Gandhi government in 1975, when he was assassinated.

At the time of his assassination, LN Mishra was being perceived by many as a challenge to Indira Gandhi's political standing in the Congress. Jagannath Mishra was the first-time MLA in Bihar assembly at that time but to mollify the family and counter any negative perception among the masses, Indira Gandhi handpicked him as the chief minister of Bihar. He replaced Abdul Ghafoor.

Jagannath Mishra went on to become Bihar chief minister for two more terms -- never completing a full tenure. But using the office of Bihar chief minister, Jagannath Mishra established himself as the tallest leader of his time.

In his second and longest term -- three years and two months -- as chief minister, Jagannath Mishra spoke openly against the central government's mining policy in 1983. He spoke for two hours in Bihar assembly criticising the Indira Gandhi government. He argued as a buyer, the Centre should not fix royalty rates for minerals produced by Bihar.

Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not take his uncharacteristic criticism lightly. He was summoned to Delhi and in three weeks, Jagannath Mishra was sacked as the chief minister. Interestingly, Indira Gandhi had supported Jagannath Mishra over Bihar Press Bill, which was aimed at gagging the press.

The Bihar Press Bill created a huge uproar in the state. Most of around 10,000 newspapers shut their publication to protest the Bihar Press Bill. The nationwide protests forced the Jagannath Mishra government of Bihar to withdraw the bill that was awaiting President's assent -- a first in India's history. But Indira Gandhi defended Jagannath Mishra saying there was nothing in the bill to gag the press.

Jagannath Mishra's last stint as the Bihar chief minister came in the wake of an anti-Congress sentiment due to Bofors scandal. He was brought to save the Congress in the 1990 Bihar election.

But by the time Bihar election was held, the Mandal Commission report was out and new caste alliances were building in favour of the Janata Dal of VP Singh. The Congress was routed and Lalu Prasad succeeded Jagannatah Mishra as Bihar chief minister.

Incidentally, both leaders were convicted in cases related to the fodder scam of late 1980s and early 1990s. The conviction came in 2013 but politically, Jagannath Mishra had become irrelevant in Bihar during late 1990s. In 2014, Jagannath Mishra joined the Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar after having spent some time in the Nationalist Congress Party.

He was on provisional bail, granted last year by the Jharkhand High Court in three cases related to fodder scam, at the time of his death.