Krishna Ballabh Sahay

Indian politician (1898–1974)

Krishna Ballabh Sahay (; 31 December 1898 – 3 June 1974), popularly known as K B Sahay was an Indian freedom fighter, who after Indian Independence became the Revenue Minister of Bihar and then became the fourth Chief Minister of unified Bihar.

Krishna Ballabh Sahay, popularly known as K B Sahay was born to an Ambashtha Kayastha Hindu family on 31 December 1898 in Sheikhpura in Patna district of Bihar. He was the eldest son of Munshi Ganga Prasad, who served as a Darogha

Earlier, when provincial autonomy was granted by the British Raj, Sahay was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1936 and was made a parliamentary secretary in Sri Krishna Singh's ministry in 1937. He is credited with having authored and passed the first pioneering legislation in the country to abolish the Zamindari system. In 1952, it was the first such legislation in the country. With the Bill becoming an Act (Bihar Act 30 of 1950), it sent shock waves among the zamindars all over Bihar and these zamindars under the leadership of Dr. Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga decided to challenge the Act as a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. During this period, Sahay also survived a body blow intended to wipe him out. He was almost alone in his crusade for land reforms in the formative 1950s and 1960s. Bihar was the first to introduce legislation to abolish zamindari. But Patna High Court struck down the Act, as did the Supreme Court. It was this that led an exasperated Jawaharlal Nehru to push the first amendment to the Constitution. The Constitution of India was amended for the first time and Article 31 (A) and Article 31 (B) were added to nullify the effect of Article 14. The legislation on land ceilings was introduced in the Assembly in 1955. A watered down version was passed only in 1959 and got presidential assent in 1962. Sahay contested the first assembly elections of 1952 from Giridih and won by a handsome margin to return as the revenue minister to the Government of Bihar in Babu's cabinet. But in 1957, he was defeated in the assembly election from Giridih by Raja Kamakhya Narayan Singh of Padma (Hazaribag). However, K. B. Sahay won the assembly elections of 1962 to enter the Bihar Assembly for the third time. In 1957, during the leadership struggle between Dr. S K Sinha and Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha, he supported Anugrah Sinha for becoming Chief Minister. However Sri Krishna Babu won and again became the Chief Minister with Anugrah Sinha as his deputy.

In the years that followed, Kamraj, the veteran Congress leader came forward with his "Kamraj Plan" to strengthen the party. On 19 September 1963, with the announcement of "Kamraj Plan" came the news of Binodanand Jha being taken as one of the eight Chief Ministers to look after the affairs of Congress Party. Beer Chand Patel threw his hat in the contest for the Chief Minister of Bihar. Sahay who was deputy minister in Jha's cabinet was the other contestant. Satyendra Narayan Sinha, the prominent Education Minister, who was decidedly second in command in the Binodanand Jha Cabinet announced his support for Sahay. Patel was no match for Sahay, who polled double the number of votes as Patel. Mr. Sahay was elected from Patna West constituency

On 2 October 1963, the birth anniversary of Gandhi was celebrated in Bihar along with the swearing in ceremony of Sahay as the fourth Chief Minister of Bihar with Satyendra Narayan Sinha again becoming second in command. Sahay lost the 1967 elections but won the local body elections in 1974 to enter the Bihar Legislative Council as an MLC. He faced enquiries by the Aiyyar Commission in between but was vindicated. Sahay met with a fatal road accident on 3 June 1974 just after winning the election, on his way back to his native place Hazaribag. Among the leaders of Bihar belonging to the 20th century, whom the people of this state would long remember for the constructive and invaluable services rendered towards the progress of Bihar, Sahay would certainly find a prominent place. His life is a superb example of how a man can attain his cherished dream by dogged determination, systematic planning and hard labour. He dream of an independent India and an ever progressing Bihar for which he sacrificed his whole life.

Sahay died on 3 June 1974, when his Hindustan Ambassador car hit the back of a truck on Hazaribag Patna Highway in Sindoor. Mr. Sahay was on the front seat of the car being driven by Surendra. The collision caused him to die on the spot.

Sahay was responsible for setting up of several industries in the state, prominent among them are the Barauni Refinery, and the Bokaro Steel Plant. Both were commissioned during his tenure as Chief Minister of Bihar. The Heavy Engineering Corporation Ranchi where the current Jharkhand Government also runs, was commissioned during his tenure. As the Chief Minister of Bihar, he gave full support for the establishment of Sainik School for Indian Armed Forces in Tilaiya. He was also instrumental in starting women's college in Hazaribag in 1963, which is named after him.