Dwarka Prasad Mishra (5 August 1901 – 31 May 1988) was an Indian politician, writer and journalist. He was a member of 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 ...

and served as the

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ' ...

for two terms during the 1960s. An Indian freedom fighter and diplomat, he was from Padari a village in

Unnao Unnao is a city and district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Unnao is located on the eastern bank of the Ganges River, and it is a satellite city of Kanpur. Administratively, Unnao lies within Unnao district, the district of Unnao and is ...

. As a poet he composed the

mahakavya Mahākāvya (lit. great kāvya, court epic), also known as ''sargabandha'', is a genre of Indian epic poetry in Classical Sanskrit. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of phenomena such as scenery, love, and battles. T ...

, ''Krishnayana'' (). He became the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh after Ravi Shankar Shukla.Personalities
''unnao.nic.in''.

Chief Minister

He served two terms as the chief minister of the state from 30 September 1963 to 8 March 1967 and 9 March 1967 to 29 July 1967. He, along with

Chandra Bhanu Gupta Chandra Bhanu Gupta (14 July 1902 – 11 March 1980) served three terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, chief minister of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In 1970s he was a member of Congress (O) and Janata Party. Early life He was born in A ...

(

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is the head of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minis ...

) were instrumental in getting the power sharing formula between

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

and

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist, independence activist who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading th ...

post the 1967 election. It gave the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

post to Desai, but the agreement broke down in 1969 and the Congress subsequently split.

Writings

His writings include: *''Living an Era: India's March to Freedom'' (part one of memoirs, covering the period up to 1947) *''The Nehru Epoch: From Democracy to Monocracy'' (part two of memoirs, critiquing the time from 1947 to 1964) *''The Post Nehru Era: Political Memoirs'' (third and concluding part of memoirs, showing India in the post Nehru era up till the 1980s) *''The search for Lanka'' (famous for proposing the thesis that

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

Lanka Lanka (; ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary Rakshasa king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks kn ...

was in Madhya Pradesh instead of Sri Lanka) His memoirs became controversial as they included a letter from

Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ''Vallabhbhāī Jhāverbhāī Paṭel''; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime ...

to Mishra dated to July 1946 criticising Nehru for "Juvenile Mistakes". Congress members questioned authenticity of the letter as well as Mishra's motives and timing of revelation. He was also active in the struggle for Indian independence and went to jail for the cause, for the first time aged 19 in 1920.

References

External links

* 1901 births 1988 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Madhya Pradesh Indian independence activists from Madhya Pradesh People from Unnao Journalists from Madhya Pradesh Chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh Leaders of the opposition in Madhya Pradesh Chief ministers from Indian National Congress 20th-century Indian journalists 20th-century Indian politicians Indian political journalists People from Bhopal {{MadhyaPradesh-INC-politician-stub