Chintamani Panigrahi (22 March 1922 – 29 April 2000) was an

Indian Independence Movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

activist, a political and social leader from

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

. He served as the

Governor of Manipur The governor of Manipur is the nominal head and representative of the president of India in the state of Manipur. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. The current and 17th governor of Manipur is La. Ganesan from ...

from 1989 to 1993. He was born to Sri

Gopinath Panigrahi Gopinath Panigrahi (27 February 1924 – 23 December 2004) is a 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 University of Lee ...

and Smt Gelhi Devi in Biswanathpur,

Puri district Puri district is a coastal district of the Odisha state of India. It has one sub-division, 11 tahasils and 11 blocks and comprises 1722 revenue villages. Puri is the only municipality of the district. Konark, Pipili and Nimapara are the thre ...

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

(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

Oriya language Odia (, ISO: , ; formerly rendered Oriya ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is al ...

and culture in parts of Utkal (Orissa) that were separated in the reorganization of states. They visited Medinipur,

Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology In the Mahabharata, Bankura was described as Suhmobhumi. The word or (in Nagari: rāḍh) was introduced a ...

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 ...

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 the Odia Saraikela ...

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 spelt as Kharsuan) was founded around 1650. It was one of the Oriya ...

, Chainbasa,

Chakradharpur Chakradharpur is a city in West Singhbhum district in the state of Jharkhand, India. It is the railway divisional headquarters of Chakradharpur (CKP) division of the South Eastern Railway. The city stands at an elevation of 227 metres (745 fe ...

, 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 un ...

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 (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, where he got admission into Vidyasagar College under the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, 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 an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, 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 afte ...

in 1957 from Puri constituency as a Communist Party of India candidate. Later, he joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

. He was re-elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

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 () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It ...

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 largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango tr ...

External links

Chintamani Panigrahi
on Manipur Assembly

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panigrahi, Chintamani 1922 births 2000 deaths Indian independence activists from Odisha Governors of Manipur India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1971–1977 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 People from Puri district Vidyasagar College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Lok Sabha members from Odisha Leaders of the Opposition in Odisha Politicians from Bhubaneswar Communist Party of India politicians from Odisha Indian National Congress politicians Social leaders