Shyam Nandan Mishra (20 October 1920 – 25 October 2004) was an Indian independence activist and politician from

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. He was Member of Parliament for many years in both 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 ...

and

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

. Initially 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 ...

, he was later Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha as a

Congress (O) The Indian National Congress (Organisation) also known as Congress (O) or Syndicate/Old Congress was a political party in India formed when the Congress party split following the expulsion of Indira Gandhi. On 12 November 1969, the Prime Minist ...

leader, and then a

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

MP and Minister for External Affairs in Charan Singh's government. He was imprisoned both during the Quit India Movement and the Emergency.

Early life, family, and education

Shyam Nandan Mishra was born in Gonawan,

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 20 October 1920. His father was Murlidhar Mishra. Shyam Nandan was educated at Sursand,

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district on the banks of Burhi Gandak River, Burhi Gandak river in the Tirhut division of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur distri ...

and Law College,

. He took active part in the

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 ...

and was imprisoned in connection with the Quit India Movement during 1942–1943. He was associated with various social and political organisations. He was also editor of the publications ''Liberator'' and ''Bihar Vaibhav''. Mishra married Dhrubswamini Devi; they had one daughter. One of Mishra's cousins, Bhadrakali Mishra, was a prominent political leader in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Parliamentary career

Mishra's political career began with his membership in the Provisional Parliament of India, as the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

was called after the promulgation of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, between 1950–52. He was Parliamentary Secretary to the first

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, from June 1951 to May 1952. In

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

, he was elected to the 1st

, and was re-elected in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

. In this period, he was Deputy Minister for

Planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...

in the Union government from 1954 to 1962. He then represented the State of

in the

for two terms, from December 1962 to April 1966 and again from April 1966 to March 1971. He was Deputy Leader of the Congress party in Parliament from 1967 to 1969, but after a split in the party, he joined the Congress (O) faction, and was its leader - and thus

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the

- from December 1969 to March 1971. He returned to the Lok Sabha in 1971, being elected from Begusarai. Mishra became close to the

and its leader

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

. In 1975, when the principal opposition party leaders were arrested in the first hours of the Emergency,

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

, Lal Krishna Advani, Madhu Dandavate and Shyam Nandan Mishra were detained together on 26 June in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, where they had gone to take part in a parliamentary commission. After the Emergency, Mishra was re-elected from Begusarai as a Janata Party candidate as the party swept the 1977 election. He was made Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Jan Lokpal Bill. Two years later, Mishra was appointed Minister for External Affairs in Charan Singh's ministry. From 1954 to 1973, Mishra was member of various Indian parliamentary delegations abroad and represented the country in several international events in Sri Lanka, Europe, and the United States.

Death

Mishra died on 25 October 2004 at his daughter's residence in Kadamkuan, following a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

. In his condolence message at his death, the Governor of Bihar, Justice Mandagadde Rama Jois, who had, during the Emergency, challenged Mishra's detention in the High Court of Karnataka, said "The nation has lost a great partiot, a

freedom fighter A freedom fighter is a person engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom, particularly against an established government. The term is typically reserved for those who are actively involved in armed or otherwise violent rebellion. Termi ...

, a true Gandhian and a Congressman. Mishra was an expert in planning and economy."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mishra, Shyam Nandan 1920 births 2004 deaths India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1971–1977 India MPs 1977–1979 Indian independence activists from Bihar Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Bihar Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Leaders of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Lok Sabha members from Bihar Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Ministers for external affairs of India People from Begusarai district Rajya Sabha members from Bihar Samata Party politicians Janata Party (Secular) politicians Prisoners and detainees of British India