Dr. Rajendra Prasad

  1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was born on 3rd. December 1884, in the respacted family of Sarna Distict in Bihar. His ancestors were the Minister (Dewan) of a State. After his primary education, he come to Calcutta (now Kolkata) for high studies. After successful completion of studies, he became a Lawyer. Within a short period, he became famous as one of the best Lawyer of the country.

  2. He was gentle, unassuming, and humble to the core of his heart. He was an embodiment of the old adage, ‘Simple living and high thinking.’ He had always shunned coming in the limelight and preferred to work silently and unobtrusively.

  3. Mahatma Gandhi inspired him to devote himself in the service of the nation. When Mahatma Gandhi went to Bihar to study the condition of the poor and oppressed peasantry of Champaran, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was so much impressed with his selfless services that he gave up his practice as a lawyer and abandoned his dream of becoming a Judge in the Patna high court.He became a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and began to work for the emancipation of the peasants of Champaran. When the Non-co-operation Movement was started, he finally decided to give up practice at the bar and devote his whole time in the service of the country. He was quick to recognize in Gandhiji, the incomparable leader, destined to liberate the country and became his follower. It was the turning point of his life, since then, he had been one of the most trusted and deeply respected lieutenants of Mahatma Gandhi. It is said, That of all the prominent of mahatma Gandhi, He was the nearest to him in spirit.

  4. Truthful, honest and peace loving by nature, Dr.Rajendra Prasad was one of the fittest people to be an exemplary follower to the Mahatma. He followed him not only in politics but in his whole philosophy of life, in his love of truth, sinple living and non-violence. After Champaran, his absorbing interest was Gandhiji and his activities.

  5. After,1919 the story of Dr. Rajendra Prasad followed the same familiar patter as tat of all Congress leaders – Satyagraha and Arrest.His personal life was completely merged in the Congress and Mahayma Gandhi's manifold constructive activities. Silent and unselfish by nature, constructive works like the reconstruction of village life, revival of Lhadi and village crafts and upliftment of the depressed appealed to him far more than the noise and exciting political works.

  6. It was the terrible Bihar famine of 1934 and his great relief service in the harrowing months that followed made him know throughout India. At the time of earthquake, he was undergoing imprisonment in a government hospital to which he haad been brought because of a severe attack of his chronic ailment-asthma. He was so weak that he could hardly get up from his bed. But the tragedy was appalling. The earthquake that lasted for four and a half-minute had brought intense and widespread havoc in Bihar. In many places, miles and miles of land had been submerged. There was great loss of human life, livestock and crops, while millions faced starvation. And after the earthquake, came diseases and extreme misery

  7. Dr. Rajendra Prasad set to work from his sick bed. In a few days, he had organised the Bihar Earthquake Relief Committee, and issued an all India appeal for help. Monkey poured in from every part of the country. The task of maintaining proper accounts of income and expenditure, And or-coordinating the work of hundreds of volunteers, drawn from all parts of the country. was enormous. His untiring efforts, often involving himself in great personal risk, and his masterly organisation of the enormous relief operations won great prise not only from the people of the country but from the British Government as well.

  8. When the question of electing the Congress President for the year 1934-1935 arose, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was unanimously chosen. It was the greatest honour the country could confer on one of its best leader. A reception, befitting a king, was given to him when he arrived at Bombay(Mumbai) where the session of the Congress was to be held. Never before had the great city of Bombay witnessed such an immense procession,and such an expression of enthusiasm love.

  9. Ever since, he had been one of the most prominent members of the Congress Working Committee. In 1936-37, when the Congress decided to fight the election on an all India basis, he, together with Sardar Patel and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, constitution the Supreme Congress Parliamentary Board. It decided on all major issues relating to the election and supervised the work of the Provincial Ministeries. In 1939, when Netatji Subhash Chandra Bose resigned from the Congress President ship, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was again requested to shoulder the responsibilities of the High Office. His third term of President ship come in 1947 when Acharya Kripalani vacated the office.

  10. In 1946 when the first Interim National Cabinet was formed with Pandit Nehru as its leader, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was offered the protfolio of Food and Agriculture. However, soon he relinquished this office when he was unanimously elected President of the Constitution Assembly of India. This was a great honour, and he amply justified the trust imposed in him by the countrymen, by the just and impartial manner in which he carried out his duties as the President of Constitution Assembly. But great honours were yet to come. On January 26, 1950 when India crased to be a Dominion in the British Commonwealth and became an Independent, Sovereign Republic, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was appointed the First President of Republic of India. This was the crowning hour of his faithful career.