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Rajendra Prasad
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{| align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="border: 1px solid; margin-left: 1em"
|+ '''Dr. Rajendra Prasad'''
! bgcolor="#efefef" colspan="2" |
Image:Dr.Rajendra.Prasad.jpg thumb|center|Dr. Rajendra Prasad
|-
! Date of Birth:
| December 3,
1884
|-
! Date of Death:
| February 28,
1963
|-
! Place of Birth:
|
Zeradei,
Bihar (India) Bihar
|-
! Wife:
|
Rajvanshi Devi
|-
! bgcolor="#efefef" colspan="2" |
President of India
|-
! Tenure Order:
| 1st President
|-
! Took Office:
|
26 January 1950
|-
! Left Office:
|
13 May 1962
|-
! Predecessor:
| None (
Governor-General of India Dominion,
|-
|
| under
C. Rajagopalachari)
|-
! Successor:
|
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Dr. S Radhakrishnan
|}
Dr. '''Rajendra Prasad''' (
December 3,
1884 –
February 28,
1963) was the first
President of India President of
India.
Rajendra Prasad was a great freedom-fighter, and the architect of the
Indian Constitution, having served as President of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution of the Republic from 1948 to 1950. He had also served as a Cabinet Minister briefly in the first Government of Independent India. He was a crucial leader of the
Indian Independence Movement.
Early life
Prasad was born in
Jiradei, in the
Siwan District Siwan List of Indian districts#Bihar district of
Bihar. His father,
Mahadev Sahay, was a
Persian language Persian and
Sanskrit language scholar; his mother,
Kamleshwari Devi, was a devout lady who would tell stories from the
Ramayana to her son. At the age of 5, the young Rajendra Prasad was sent to a
Maulavi for learning Persian. After that he was sent to Chapra Zilla School for further primary studies. He was married at the age of 12 to Rajvanshi Devi. He then went on to study at R.K. Ghosh's Academy in
Patna, India Patna to be with his older brother
Mahendra Prasad. Soon afterward, however, he rejoined the Chapra Zilla School, and it was from there that he passed the entrance examination of
Calcutta University, at the age of 18. He stood first in the first division of that examination.
He then joined the
Presidency College, Kolkata Presidency College,
Kolkata Calcutta. He was initially a student of science and his teachers included
Jagadish Chandra Bose J.C.Bose and
Prafulla Chandra Roy. Later he decided to switch his focus to the arts. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, who was impressed by his intellect and dedication asked him on the occasion ''"Why have you deserted your class?."''
Prasad lived with his brother in the Eden Hindu Hostel. A plaque still commemorates his stay in that room. He had been initiated into the
Swadeshi movement by his brother. He then joined the
Dawn Society run by
Satish Chandra Mukherjee, and
Sister Nivedita.
In
1911, he joined the A.I.C.C. However, his family estate was in bad condition. He was looked upon as the provider. But he sought permission from his brother in a letter to join the Indian freedom movement. He wrote, ''"Ambitions I have none, except to be of some service to the Motherland".'' The shock of his brother, however, held him to the family. In
1916, Rajendra Prasad joined the High Court of
Bihar, and
Orissa. Such was his intellect and his integrity, that often when his adversary failed to cite a precedent, the judges asked Rajendra Prasad to cite a precedent against himself.
In the Independence Movement
After meeting
Mahatma Gandhi, he quit as a Senator of the University, much to the regret of the British Vice-Chancellor.He also responded to the call by the Mahatma to boycott Western education by asking his son
Mrityunjaya Prasad, a brilliant student to drop out of the University and enroll himself in
Bihar Vidyapeeth, an institution he had along with his colleagues founded on the traditional Indian model. He wrote articles for ''Searchlight'' and the ''Desh'' and collected funds for these papers. He toured a lot, explaining, lecturing and exhorting. When the earthquake of Bihar occurred on
January 15,
1934, Rajendra Prasad was in jail. He was released two days later. He set himself for the task of raising funds. The
Viceroy had also raised a fund. However, while Rajendra Prasad's fund collected over 38
Lakhs (Rs. 3,800,000), the Viceroy could only manage one-third of that amount. The way relief was organized left nothing to be desired. Nationalist India expressed its admiration by electing him to the President of the Bombay session of the Indian National Congress.
After
India became independent he was elected the
President of India. As President, he used his moderating influence so silently and unobtrusively that he neither reigned nor ruled. His sister
Bhagwati Devi died on the night of
25 January,
1960. She doted on her dearly-loved younger brother. It must have taken Rajendra Prasad all his will power to have taken the Republic Day salute as usual, on the following day. It was only on return from the parade that he set about the task of cremation. In 1962, after 12 years as President, he announced his decision to retire. He was subsequently awarded the
Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award.
Passing and Legacy
Within months of his retirement, early in September 1962, his wife Rajvanshi Devi passed away. In a letter written a month before his death to one devoted to him, he said, "I have a feeling that the end is near, end of the energy to do, end of my very existence". He died on
28 February,
1963 with 'Ram Ram' on his lips.
Because of the enormous public adulation he enjoyed,he was referred to as
Desh Ratna or the ''Jewel of the country''.
His legacy is being ably carried forward by his great grandson
Ashoka Jahnavi-Prasad, a psychiatrist and a scientist of international repute who introduced
sodium valproate as a safer alternative to
lithium salts in the treatment of
bipolar disorders.
External links
-
Former Presidents of India: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
-
The Life of Dr. Rajendra Prasad
-
Congress Party: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
{{start box}}
{{succession box | before=
Governor-General of India C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari| title=
President of India .html">January 26,
1950 -
May 13,
1962 after=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan}}
{{end box}}
{{IndiaFreedom}}
Category:1884 births Prasad, Rajendra
Category:1963 deaths Prasad, Rajendra
Category:Bharat Ratna recipients Prasad, Rajendra
Category:Presidents of India Prasad, Rajendra
Category:Congress Presidents
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