Nabakrushna Choudhury (also spelled Nabakrushna Choudhuri; 23 November 1901 – 24 June 1984) was an Indian politician and activist. He served as 2nd Chief Minister of the Indian state of Odisha. He was a freedom fighter who participated in the Non-cooperation Movement, the Civil Disobedience movement, and the Peasant movement.
Early life
Nabakrushna Choudhury was born on 23 November 1901 in an aristocratic Zamindar Karan family to lawyer Gokulananda Choudhury at the Kherasa village of Cuttack (now in Jagatsinghpur). His father was an accomplished advocate. Nabakrushna Choudhury studied at the Pyari Mohan Academy, Cuttack. He completed his studies for to Matriculation Examination at the age of 15 but had to wait for a year due to age restriction.
In 1917, joined the Ravenshaw College, Cuttack. His elder brother Gopabandhu Choudhuri resigned from British government service to work in social service. In 1921 he left the Ravenshaw College along with few of his classmates like Nityananda Kanungo, Loknath Patnaik, Jadumani Mangaraj and Harekrushna Mahtab to join non-cooperation movement and to work in social service. He lost his father around this time so he came under his elder brother Gopabandhu Choudhury's guardianship. In 1922, Nabakrushna Choudhury went to Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad to learn all about Khadi – the principles and philosophy of spinning and weaving.
On return from Sabarmati, Nabakrushna tried to organize Gandhian programs in Odisha along with his brother in a school at Alakashram, that his brother established. In 1925, Nabakrushna went to Shantiniketan to further his studies of Mahatma Gandhi. During his ten-month stay there, he came in contact with Malati Choudhury (née Sen), whom he married later.
Later, he and his wife worked at Tarikund, a village near Jagatsinghpur. There, they both worked as farmers and teachers with his first daughter, Uttara being born in 1928.
Indian Freedom Movement Mahatma Gandhi started Salt Satyagraha in 1930. Inchudi in Odisha was epicenter of the movement in Odia speaking regions. Srijang was equally active in another area – the movement against payment of Tax for Chowkidari. Nabababu was the frontline leader in this movement, for which he was jailed for four months. He used the prison time in studies and in organising games and gymnastics for his fellow prisoners. In 1931 a son was born to him and Malati Devi. By that time his brother and his family were jailed as well. All of them were transferred to Hazaribag Jail. Naba babu got the opportunity of meeting fellow freedom fighters Minoo Masani, Ashok Mehta, Yusuf Mehrali and Jayaprakash Narayan.
He came back to Tarikund after being released from Hazaribag Jail. He created a small group within the Congress and began editing and publishing a journal named 'Sarathi'. For meeting the recurring costs of 'Sarathi', Malati Devi sold her jewelry. 'Sarathi' was the mouthpiece of small farmers and labourers.
When the socialist caucus Congress Socialist Party was formed in India with Ram Manohar Lohia, Acharya Narendra Dev and Jayaprakash Narayan as its founders, Naba babu's group was merged in this forming Utkal Congress Samyabadi Sangha (Utkal Congress Socialist Party). In 1935 Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi in collaboration with Ananta Patnaik set up Nabajuga Sahitya Sansad to create progressive literature in Odisha. At the inaugural session of Nabajuga Sahitya Sansad, Malati Choudhury sang "Nabeena Jugara Taruna Jagare" written by Ananta Patnaik. This society functioned as the cultural wing of the UCSP.
Entry into politics Odisha became a separate linguistic province on 1 April 1936. In 1937, elections to the Odisha provincial Legislative Assembly were held for the first time. Naba babu stood for election against Rai Bahadur Chintamani Acharya from the Tirtal-Ersama constituency. He won the election with an overwhelming majority and this marked his entry into active politics.
As an MLA, he was always sensitive to, and concerned about, the interests of the poor and downtrodden in Odisha. All the farmers of Odisha united themselves to fight against the landlords who were exploiting them. His published journal 'Sarathi' had closed down by then. established another journal titled 'Krusak' about news and features on the problems of the farmers, laborer and those of the Praja Andolan movement in the princely States.
Praja Mandal Movement There were had 26 Odia speaking Princely States. The Ruling Chiefs of these states were directly responsible for their respective States according their own whims and fancies, by paying a royalty to the British. The Congress Party and Mahatma Gandhi specifically had a policy of non-interference in the internal matters of the princely States. However a section of congress did not agree with this. Choudhuri was one such figure and he disobeyed this policy directive. Malati Devi, Harmohan Patnaik, Gouranga Charan Das and Sarangadhar Das joined him in mobilizing resistance against the princely States in the hill tracts of Odisha. At their instance there was a stiff resistance against the princely State of Nilgiri. He was joined by Harmohan Patnaik, the President of Dhenkanal Prajamandal, the first Praja Mandal in India to fight against rulers of Princely States, Gouranga Charan Das, Ananta Patnaik, Baidyanath Rath, Sachi Routray, Manmohan Mishra, Surendranath Dwivedy etc. They went from door to door in the villages around Dhenkanal raising awareness about the oppressive regimes. In 1938, he was again imprisoned for his involvement in the Praja Mandal Movement. One of the turning point of the Prajamandal movement was the sacrifice of 12-year-old Baji Raut along with Hurushi, Nata, Raghu, Guri and Lakshman succumbed to the bullets of Dhenkanal forces. After this atrocity Nabababu further accelerated the movement from their base at Angul. During these troubled times they had their third child, a daughter named Krishna in January 1939.
In 1940, at the insistence of Gandhiji, Naba babu was jailed for six months as an individual Satyagrahi.
Quit India Movement On 8 August 1942, Gandhiji launched the Quit India Movement. There were mass arrests of important leaders of the movement before the next morning. Nabakrushna had already prepared a blueprint for sustaining the fight before going to prison. He was kept in succession at Cuttack, Angul and Puri Jails where he was mingling with all the fellow prisoners, and was organizing them against the misdeeds of the jail employees.
In November,1941 some non-Congress members and a dissident group of Congressmen in the Orissa Assembly, headed by Godavaris Misra, formed a coalition ministry. And before the budget session, on 12 February 1942, some prominent Congressmen including Nabakrushna Chaudhuri and Mohan Das were arrested to avoid a no-confidence vote. This arrest of Choudhuri during Quit india Movement was condemned by national leaders like Nehru and was largely considered as an unpopular move amongst the public of Odisha leading ultimately to the collapse of coalition government in 1946 and the emergence of Hare Krushna Mahtab as the provinces third Prime Minister.Chand, S. (1997). Harekrushna Mahtab and Freedom Struggle, 1920-1947. India: Firma KLM. Pg- 112Pati, S. (1987). Democratic Movements in India. India: Discovery Publishing House. Pg- 141Nayak, P. K. (2003). History of Modern Political Movements. India: Akansha Publishing House. Pg- 196
He was sent to Berhampur Jail from Puri Jail. On 26 January 1944, some young prisoners hoisted the National Flag. The iail and police personnel tried their best to bring down the Flag, but it was a futile effort. Eventually the matter was reported to a District British Executive, who came to the Jail for inspection, and at his orders the prisoners were mercilessly beaten resulting in injuries. Even then they resisted the efforts to dehoist the Flag. The District Executive gave firing orders. On hearing such orders, he appeared at the scene and stood still facing the gun. The British officer was afraid of him, and withdrew the firing orders. By the end of 1945, Naba babu was released from Berhampur Jail.Government and Politics in Orissa. India, Print House (India), 1988. Pg-220
Following his release from prison he again made an incindiary speech against the British Government on 24 November 1945 at Cuttack where he extolled the people to rise up against the trial of INA soldiers in 'armed revolution and force without mental reservations of any kind.' He argued the point that whereas Gandhi sought emancipation of India from inside India, Subhas Chandra Bose with his Indian National Army sought it from the outside.Towards Freedom: Documents on the Movement for Independence in India, 1945. India, Indian Council of Historical Research, 2008. Pg- 829
Congress Government In the 1946 Indian provincial elections Naba babu won the Kendrapara Constituency, and became a Cabinet Minister in the Harekrushna Mahatab led Indian National Congress Government having the Revenue, Supplies and Forest Departments portfolio.
Post Independence
In the Independent India, Choudhuri continued as revenue minister till April 1948. As the Revenue Minister, he led the committee on 'Land Tenure and Land Revenue' this would culminate in the Tenancy Relief Bill. This committee recommended for the abolition of Zamindari System and other intermediaries. Such a move also protected tenants who were lawfully cultivating land and Choudhuri ensured that through these reforms cultivators could not be evicted by landlords or zamindars. He also introduced Anchal Shasan system, that aimed at decentralization of local administration.
He resigned from the post in the wake of his son's suicide and continued his social work.
Jawaharlal Nehru wanted that him to return to Government. He tried to persuade him, but did not succeed initially. However a series of letters exchanged between Nehru and Malati Devi suggests that ultimately he was persuaded through to become the Chief Minister of Odisha in 1950. This government resigned in 1952 February to make way for independent India's first elected government. The first general election of independent India was held in 1951–52. The Odia speaking princely states merged with the Province of Orissa (now known as Odisha) and elections were held for a common legislature. Choudhury won his election as MLA from Barachana. Congress became the single largest party but short of majority.However, with support of six independent MLAs he assumed the post of Chief minister of Odisha province.
During his Chief Ministership, the Zamindari system was abolished. This gave the farmers ownership right on their cultivated land. His proposal for local self government 'Anchal Shasan' became a reality. This was the precursor to the Community Development Programme launched in Odisha on the Gandhi Jayanti Day of 1952. The Hirakud Dam's construction was completed during Naba babu's Chief Ministership. In 1954, an Agriculture College and a Veterinary College were established at Bhubaneswar. An Engineering College was also established at Burla, Sambalpur. The Agriculture and Veterinary Colleges became two components of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, which also had a Department of Architecture to serve the needs of drafting new plans for a brand new capital to be constructed for the state of Odisha. Naba babu was a member of its Governing Body for many years. The Burla Engineering College became a part of the Sambalpur University.
Acharya Vinoba Bhave had launched the Bhoodan and Gramdan movement when Nabababu was the Chief Minister. He was deeply involved in this movement. He was moving with Vinoba from village to village spreading the message of Gramdan.