Dr. Rajendra Prasad, The First President of India
Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first president of independent India was an independence activist, lawyer and a delight scholar. He belonged to the Indian National Congress party and was a prominent leader then in the region of Bihar and Maharashtra. He was highly motivated by the philosophy of the great Mahatma Gandhi. Prasad was the only president of India who served two full terms.
Early Life and Education
Rajendra Prasad was born on 3 December 1884 at Ziradei in the district of Siwan in Bihar. He belonged to a landowning Kayastha family. His father was Mahadev Sahai Srivastava and his mother was Kamleshwari Devi. Mahadev was a scholar in different languages like Sanskrit and Persi along with local Indian languages. Prasad was the youngest child of his parents. Unfortunately, he lost his mother when he was a child.
Rajendra Prasad got his elementary education from his family. Then he was sent to the Chapra District School. After that, he and his elder brother went to the T.K. Ghosh's Academy in Patna. There they stayed for almost two years. He participated in the entrance examination of the University of Calcutta and secured the first position with a scholarship of Rs.30 per month. This incident boosted his confidence and wanted to go a long way.
In 1902, he joined the Presidency College in Calcutta. He passed the F.A. under the University of Calcutta in March 1904. He graduated with a first division from there in 1905. These were as a science faculty student.
Later, he focused on the study of the arts. He did his M.A. in economics in 1907 with a first division from the University of Calcutta. Later on, he undertook a law degree with the gold medal in 1915 from the University of Calcutta. Then he completed his Doctorate in Law from Allahabad University.
As Prasad lost his mother at an early age, he grew up with his elder sister. But his sister became a widow at the age of only nineteen and so he had to return home. One interesting fact is that Prasad was married to Rajavanshi Devi at the age of only twelve in 1896.
Career
Rajendra Prasad had a colourful career. The way he led his life was very inspiring for many young people. He was a true nationalist, a scholar, a successful teacher and an independent activist.
Rajendra Prasad served in various educational institutions as a teacher. The teaching profession is a passion to him. After completing his M.A. he joined as a professor of English at the Langat Singh College of Muzaffarpur in Bihar. He also worked as a Professor of Economics at Calcutta University. He was appointed as one of the first members of the Senate and Syndicate of Patna University.
Prasad was also a successful lawyer. He was a doctorate at Law. In 1916, he joined the High Court of Bihar and Odisha. He also practised law at Bhagalpur where he had a chamber as well.
Above all, the principal identification of Rajendra Prasad is that he was one of the major activists of the Indian freedom movement, while studying in Calcutta he participated as a volunteer during the 1906 annual session of the Indian National Congress, organised in Calcutta. He became active in the independence movement in 1911. When he met Mahatma Gandhi in 1916 at Lucknow, he was so delighted and Gandhi's words influenced him to give up his professional career and move ahead with the independence movement.
He interacted with Rahul Sankrityayan, a writer, and polymath. Rahul Sankrityayan was greatly influenced by Prasad's intellectual powers, finding him to be a guide and guru. In many of his articles, he mentioned his meeting with Sankrityayan and narrated his meetings with Sankrityayan.
In the 1914 floods in Bihar and Bengal, Prasad took an active role in helping people affected.
He was elected as the President of the Indian National Congress during the Bombay session in October 1934. He again became the president when Subhash Chandra Bose resigned in 1939. On 8 August 1942, Congress passed the Quit India Resolution in Bombay which led to the arrest of many Indian leaders along with Prasad. On 17 November 1947, he came Congress President for the third time.
On September 2, 1946, he was allocated the Food and Agriculture department after the formation of the Interim Government of 12 nominated ministers under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Becoming an active journalist in the nationalist interest, he wrote for Searchlight in English, founded and edited the Desh, a weekly Hindi and started his lifelong campaign to establish Hindi as the national language.
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The First President of India
On 26 January 1950, the Constitution of independent India was ratified and he was elected as the first President of India. As President of India, Rajendra Prasad duly acted as required by the Constitution and was independent of any political party.
He was re-elected for two consecutive terms in 1952 and 1957 and is the only President of India to achieve this feat. He travelled the world extensively as an ambassador of India, building diplomatic rapport with foreign nations.
He acted independently of politics, following the expected role of the president as required by the constitution. In 1962, after serving 12 years as the president, he announced his decision to retire because of his deteriorating health.
He was honoured with Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award.
Death
Dr Rajendra Prasad died on 28 February 1963 at the age of 78. Rajendra Smriti Sangrahalaya in Patna is dedicated to him.
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