Chintamani Panigrahi (22 March 1922 – 29 April 2000) was an
Indian Independence Movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
activist, a political and social leader from
Odisha
Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
. He served as the
Governor of Manipur
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
from 1989 to 1993. He was born to Sri
Gopinath Panigrahi
Gopinath Panigrahi (27 February 1924 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian botanist and plant taxonomist. He was born in the village Baikunthapur, Basudebpur block, Bhadrak district, Orissa, India and obtained a Ph.D. in 1954 from the Universit ...
and Smt Gelhi Devi in Biswanathpur,
Puri district
Puri district is a coastal district of the Odisha state of India. It has one Administrative subdivision, sub-division, 11 Tehsils, tahasils and 11 Block (country subdivision), blocks and comprises 1722 revenue villages. Puri is the only Nagar ...
,
Orissa
Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...
(India). He was the first cousin of Shri. Bhagawati Charan Panigrahi (the founder of Communist Party in Orissa) and he was the first cousin of Legendary Oriya author Padmabhushan Kalindi Charan Panigrahi. Legendary Iron lady and former Chief Minister of Orissa Smt. Nandini Satpathy was his niece.
Early life and independence movement
He was an active member of the "Bichinna Utkal Abkash Bahini" which was constituted on 17 May 1938 under the chairmanship of Sri Sukanta Rao, then Principal of Ravenshaw Collegiate School. Its aim was protecting the
and culture in parts of Utkal (Orissa) that were separated in the reorganization of states. They visited
Medinipur
Medinipur or Midnapore is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as ''Kasai'' and ''Cossye''). ...
,
Bankura
Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district.
Etymology
It comes from the old Austric word ráŕhá or ráŕho which means “land of red soil”.P.R. Sarkar Rarh - ...
,
Singhbhum
Singhbhum was a district of India during the British Raj, part of the Chota Nagpur Division of the Bengal Presidency. It was located in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. Chaibasa was the district headquarters. Located in the southern l ...
,
Seraikela
Saraikela (also spelled Seraikella) is the district headquarters and a nagar panchayat in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was formerly the capital of Saraikela State, a pr ...
,
Kharsawan
Kharsawan garh is a town and a notified area in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
History
Kharsawan (also spelled as Kharsuan) was founded around 1650. It was one of the Ori ...
Chakradharpur
Chakradharpur is a municipal town situated in the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, India, positioned strategically on the Chota Nagpur Plateau. Located 62 kilometers west of Jamshedpur, 115 kilometers south of Ranchi, and 101 kilometers ea ...
, Tarala, Tikili and Manjusha in the summer holidays to interact with people in Oriya and preach national integrity.
In the 9 August 1942 revolution, he and his friends hoisted the Indian National Flag at
Ravenshaw College
Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw College, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The u ...
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, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
, where he got admission into
Vidyasagar College
Vidyasagar College is a state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta, located in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The college offers both post-graduate and under-graduate courses in a number of subjects ...
under the
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...
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 16 August 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
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
, 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
The Second Lok Sabha (5 April 1957 – 31 March 1962) was elected after the 1957 Indian general election. The 2nd Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years till 1962.
15 sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 2nd Lok Sabha after th ...
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...
candidate. Later, he joined the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
. He was re-elected to the
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...
in 1967, 1971, 1980 and 1984 from Bhubaneswar constituency. 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 () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
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 () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...