Bishwanath Das

{{Short description|Indian politician, lawyer, and philanthropist}} {{Use Indian English|date=October 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Bishwanath Das | image = Biswanath-Das.jpg | order = 7th | office = Chief Minister of Orissa | term_start = 3 April 1971 | term_end = 14 June 1972 | predecessor = [[Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo]] | successor = [[Nandini Satpathy]] | term_start1 = 19 July 1937 | term_end1 = 4 November 1939{{efn|As Prime Minister of [[Orissa Province]].}} | predecessor1 = [[Krushna Chandra Gajapati]] | successor1 = Governor's rule | office2 = [[List of Governors of Uttar Pradesh|Governor of Uttar Pradesh]] | term_start2 = 16 April 1962 | term_end2 = 30 April 1967 | predecessor2 = [[Burgula Ramakrishna Rao]] | successor2 = [[Bezawada Gopala Reddy]] | birth_name = Bishwanath Dash | birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|03|08|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Ganjam district|Belagan]], Madras Presidency, British India | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1984|06|02|1889|03|08}} | death_place = [[Cuttack]], Orissa, India | alma_mater = {{plainlist| * [[Ravenshaw College]] * [[Calcutta University]] }} }} '''Bishwanath Das''' ([[birth name|né]] '''Dash'''; 8 March 1889 – 2 June 1984) was an Indian politician, lawyer and philanthropist. He was the prime minister of [[Orissa Province]] of [[British India]] 1937–1939, the [[governor of Uttar Pradesh]] 1962–1967 and later [[Chief Minister of Odisha]] 1971–1972.

== Early life == He was born on 8 March 1889 in a [[Kanyakubja Brahmin]]<ref>{{Cite book|author=Prabir Mahanty|url=https://dasanddashsurname.blogspot.com/2018/08/das-or-dash-is-surname.html?m=1|title=Origin of Das and Dash surnames}}</ref> family at Belgan village in [[Ganjam district]] of the erstwhile [[Madras Presidency]], which is in the state of Odisha. He graduated from [[Ravenshaw College]], [[Cuttack]]. Married at an early age his only child Dr. Trinath Dash also followed on the steps of philanthropic legal practice for the poor.<ref name="Das Rath 1990 p.19 ">{{cite book | last1=Das | first1=B. | last2=Rath | first2=S.N. | title=Bishwanath Das, a tribute: published on the occasion of Bishwanath Das Birth Centenary Celebration held under the auspices of the Utkal University | publisher=Dept. of Political Science, Utkal University | year=1990 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mREcAAAAIAAJ | access-date=2019-07-03 | page=19}}</ref>

==Political career== Bishwanath Das supported the [[Indian independence movement]] from both Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. He was a member of the legislative council of [[Madras Province]] from 1921 to 1930. He was instrumental in the creation of a separate state for the Odia-speaking people. After the separation of Orissa/Odisha from [[Bihar and Orissa Province]] on 1 April 1936, he became its prime minister (premier) on 19 July 1937.<ref name="Orissa State Archives 1997 p. ">{{cite book | author=Orissa State Archives | title=Reflections on the National Movement in Orissa | publisher=Orissa State Archives | year=1997 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDduAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2019-07-03 }}</ref> He became a member of the [[Constituent Assembly of India]] in 1946 representing Orissa. He served as the [[governor of Uttar Pradesh]] from 16 April 1962 to 30 April 1967.<ref name="Bureau 2019">{{cite web | last=Bureau | first=OB | title=Know Odisha Greats Who Helped Frame India's Constitution - ODISHA BYTES | website=ODISHA BYTES | date=2019-11-26 | url=https://odishabytes.com/know-odisha-greats-who-helped-frame-indias-constitution/ | access-date=2020-07-31|quote=As members of the Constituent Assembly, several eminent personalities from Odisha too had made seminal contributions to the historic event on November 26, 1949. These included Bishwanath Das, Bichitrananda Das, Sarangadhar Das,...}}</ref> In 1966, he was made the president of [[Servants of the People Society]] (Lok Sevak Mandal founded by [[Lala Lajpat Rai]]).

After the [[1971 Odisha Legislative Assembly election]], the [[Utkal Congress]], [[Swatantra Party]] and [[Jharkhand Party]] formed a coalition. Das became [[Chief Minister of Odisha]] under the coalition government. He was in office from 3 April 1971 to 14 June 1972. He set up multiple trusts for providing free legal support, food and vedantic learning institutions for the poor in Orissa and Uttar Pradesh from his lifetime earnings and salary. The institutions include Veda Bhavan at Puri.<ref name="Orissa State Museum 1993 p.46 ">{{cite book |title=The Orissa Historical Research Journal |publisher=Superintendent of Research and Museum |issue=v. 38-40 |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZ4pcnoxpY0C |access-date=2020-07-31 |page=46}}</ref>

== Notes == {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090410051005/http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/jan2006/engpdf/or-jan-2006.pdf A short biography] by Gurukalyan Mahapatra in the Orissa Review, January 2006. *[http://upgovernor.gov.in/upgovernor.gov.in/dasbio.htm About Shri Bishwanath Das], Governor of Uttar Pradesh. *[http://www.allahabadhighcourt.in/event/Resume_Centenary_Celebrations_Alld_SN_Katju.pdf Allahabad High Court] By Justice Shiva Nath Katju.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Bishwanath}} [[Category:1889 births]] [[Category:1984 deaths]] [[Category:Chief ministers of Odisha]] [[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]] [[Category:Ravenshaw University alumni]] [[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]] [[Category:Orissa MLAs 1971–1973]] [[Category:Governors of Uttar Pradesh]] [[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Odisha]] [[Category:People from Ganjam district]]