Chintamani Panigrahi
Encyclopedia
Chintamani Panigrahi was an Indian Independence Movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...

 activist, a political and social leader from Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

. He served as the Governor of Manipur from 1989 to 1993. He was born to Sri Gopinath Panigrahi and Smt Gelhi Devi in Biswanathpur, Puri district
Puri District
Puri being a coastal district of Orissa, is famous for its Historic antiquities, Religious sanctuaries, Architectural Grandeur, Sea-scape beauty,moderate climate.It holds a wealth of attraction for the visitors. It boasts of a continuous history from the 3rd Century B.C...

, Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

 (India).

Early life and independence movement

He was an active member of the "Bichinna Utkal Abkash Bahini" which was constituted on May 17, 1938 under the chairmanship of Sri Sukanta Rao, then Principal of Ravenshaw Collegiate School. Its aim was protecting the Oriya language
Oriya language
Oriya , officially Odia from November, 2011, is an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. It is mainly spoken in the Indian states of Orissa and West Bengal...

 and culture in parts of Utkal (Orissa) that were separated in the reorganization of states. They visited Medinipur, Bankura
Bankura
Bankura is a city and a municipality in Bankura District in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura District.-Etymology:...

, Singhbhum
Singhbhum
Singhbhum was sometime a large district in the present-day Indian state of Bihar. Chaibasa was the district headquarters of the erstwhile Singhbhum district. Earlier this area was a part of Orissa's Gajapati Empire...

, Seraikela, Kharsawan
Kharsawan
Kharsawan is a city and a notified area in Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.-History:Kharsawan or Kharsuan was one of the Oriya speaking Princely states of India during the period of the British Raj, and was acceded to India after India gained independence. Earlier...

, Chainbasa, Chakradharpur
Chakradharpur
Chakradharpur is a city and a municipality in West Singhbhum district in the state of Jharkhand, India. It is located on the Chota Nagpur Plateau 62 Kilometers west of Jamshedpur, 115 Kilometers south of Ranchi, 101 Kilometers east of Rourkela and 24 Kilometers north of Chaibasa...

, Tarala, Tikili and Manjusha in the summer holidays to interact with people in Oriya
Oriya language
Oriya , officially Odia from November, 2011, is an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. It is mainly spoken in the Indian states of Orissa and West Bengal...

 and preach national integrity.

In the August 9, 1942 revolution, he and his friends hoisted the Indian National Flag at Ravenshaw College
Ravenshaw College
Ravenshaw College is located in Cuttack, India.The college was established in 1878 for Thomas Edward Ravenshaw, a descendant of William Withers...

 and subsequently took leave of absence from the college. His passion for higher studies and his wish to be a part of the freedom struggle took him to Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, where he got admission into Vidyasagar College
Vidyasagar College
Vidyasagar College , named after Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, is a government-sponsored day and evening college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta in Kolkata, India.-Notable alumni:*Jatindra Nath Das*Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar...

 under the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...

 to finish his M.A. He joined the Paschim Banga Chhatra Congress and used to write handbills and posters against the British Government at night. On August 16, 1946, there was a massive Hindu-Muslim riot in Bengal. A peace march was organized under the leadership of Sri Panigrahi by Utkal Bahini and medical assistance as well as food was given to the affected, preaching the mantra of "United we win, divided we fall".

Journalism and politics

He was a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

, an author, a writer and a labour leader. He was the editor of "Daily Prajatantra" (1947–1951) and "Daily Matrubhumi" (1951–1956). He was secretary of the All Utkal Bank Employees Association and became Vice-President of the World Democratic Youth Federation. He was elected to the 2nd Lok Sabha
2nd Lok Sabha
Membership of the Second Lok Sabha...

 in 1957 from Puri constituency
Puri (Lok Sabha constituency)
Puri Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in Orissa state in eastern India.-Assembly segments:Assembly segments, which constituted this parliamentary constituency before delimitation of parliamentary and legislative assembly constituencies in 2008 were:# Balipatna#...

 as a Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...

 candidate. Later, he joined the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

 in 1967, 1971, 1980 and 1984 from Bhubaneswar constituency
Bhubaneswar (Lok Sabha constituency)
Bhubaneshwar Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in Orissa state in eastern India.-Assembly segments:...

. He was also Minister of State for Home Affairs (1986–88), Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence (1988–89) and Governor of Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...

 from 10 July 1989 to 19 March 1993.

There are several works to his credit which include "Juga Sahitya" (Oriya), "Journey through blue mountain" and "With the people". He was fondly called the "People’s Governor" by the residents of Manipur because of his contribution to the development of the state and its people.

He died on 29 April 2000 at the Kalinga Hospital in Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...

.

External links

  • http://manipurassembly.nic.in/html/gov_add90(b).htm
  • http://ibnlive.in.com/politics/electionstats/candidate/Chintamani%20Panigrahi.html
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