RAJENDRA PRASAD


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Rajendra Prasad (1884–1963), first president of India, one among Mahatma Gandhi's closest lieutenants. He was born on 3 December 1884 at Zeradai in Bihar. An impressive student, an erudite scholar, a real humanist, and a deeply religionist, he committed himself to the explanation for his country and remained within the vanguard of India's freedom struggle, guiding the destiny of the new nation after independence. President of the Indian National Congress in 1934, 1939, and 1947, Prasad chaired India's Constituent Assembly and was chosen as first president of the republic when the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950. He left a permanent mark on the polity of independent India, as his career continues to inspire the nation's citizens.


EARLY LIFE:



Rajendra Prasad's Bihar village was cosmopolitan enough to make sure communal harmony and self-sufficiency, allowing its people a cushty life. He was married at 12 to Rajvanshi Devi. He received his education at the village then studied at Chapra District School, where he excelled. Prasad stood first within the entrance exam of the University of Kolkata (Calcutta), whose jurisdiction in 1902 still extended over Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam. He then joined the distinguished Presidency College in Kolkata. He continued his academics from there, winning the admiration of his teachers and other students. As a 3rd year student, he won the primary election for the post of secretary of the school Union. Though he continued to excel in his studies, this was also the time—following the primary British partition of Bengal in 1905—of a replacement political awakening. The antipartition movement greatly agitated young Prasad, and therefore the popular Swadeshi and boycott movements inspired him to enter public life. He was instrumental within the formation of the Bihari Students' Conference in 1908, a corporation that provided political leadership to Bihar within the ensuing decades.

At an equivalent time, he started practicing law under the apprenticeship of Khan Bahadur Shamsul Huda. Swayed by the nationalist movement, Prasad joined the Indian National Congress and was elected to the All-India Congress Committee. Gopal Krishna Gokhale had started his Servants of India Society in Pune in 1905; Prasad hoped to hitch the society, and Gokhale personally invited him to be a neighborhood of the movement. Prasad was deterred, however, by opposition from his elder brother, Mahendra Prasad. The economic needs of the family compelled him to pursue his bar , so he refused Gokhale's invitation. He later recalled his feeling of "helplessness" in doing so. that time, his mother had died and his only sister, Bhagwati Devi, had become a widow at the age of 19 , returning to her parents' home.

Bihar had became a British Indian province, in 1912. The supreme court was established at Patna in 1916, and Rajendra Parasad moved there to practice, swiftly making his mark as a lawyer. His great intellect and huge memory were his great powers. His integrity and character impressed not only his clients and colleagues but the judges of the supreme court also . Often when an adversary did not cite a legal precedent, judges asked Prasad to cite a precedent against himself.


FIRST PRESIDENT OF INDIA:

 

 


Two and a half years following independence, the Constitution of independent India was confirmed on 26 January 1950 and Rajendra Prasad was appointed as India's first president. Unfortunately, on the night of 25 January 1950, each day before the Republic Day of India, his sister Bhagwati Devi died. He arranged her cremation but only after his return from the tract .

As President of India, he duly acted as needed by the Constitution, independent of any party . He travelled the planet extensively as an envoy of India, building diplomatic rapport with foreign nations. He was re-elected for 2 consecutive terms in 1952 and 1957, and remains only President of India to realize this feat. The Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan were hospitable public for a few months for the primary time during his tenure, and since then it's been an enormous attraction for people in Delhi and other parts of the country.

Prasad acted independently of politics, following the expected role of the president as needed the constitution. Following the fight over the enactment of the Hindu Code Bill, he took a more energetic role in state affairs. In 1962, after serving twelve years because the president, he announced his decision to retire. After renouncing the office of the President of India on May 1962, he returned to Patna on 14 May 1962 and preferred to remain within the campus of Bihar Vidyapeeth. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award.

He died on 28 February 1963. Rajendra Smriti Sangrahalaya in Patna is devoted to him.



HIS LITERARY CONTRIBUTIONS :
  • Atmakatha (1946), his autobiography written during his 3-year prison sentence in Bankipur Jail
  • Satyagraha at Champaran (1922)
  • Division of India (1946, online)
  • Bapu Ke Kadmon Mein (1954)
  • Since Independence (published in 1960)
  • Bharatiya Shiksha
  • President of Constituent Assembly
  • Mahatma Gandhi and Bihar, Some Reminiscences(1949)