B. P. Mandal

Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal (25 August 1918 – 13 April 1982) was an Indian politician who chaired Mandal Commission which became a major political theme after 1990. He served as 7th Chief Minister of Bihar in the year 1968, but he had resigned after 30 days.[1] He was also a parliamentarian who served as the chairman of the Second Backward Classes Commission (popularly known as the Mandal Commission). B.P. Mandal came from a big Yadav landlord family,[2][3] from Madhepura in Northern Bihar.[4] The commission's report mobilised a segment of the Indian population known as "Other Backward Classes" (OBCs) and initiated a fierce debate on the policy for underrepresented and underprivileged groups in Indian politics.[5]

For other uses, see Bindeshwari Prasad.

Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal
7th Chief Minister of Bihar
In office
1 February 1968 – 2 March 1968
Preceded bySatish Prasad Singh
Succeeded byBhola Paswan Shastri
Member of the Indian Parliament
for Madhepura
In office
1967–1972
Succeeded byRajendra Prasad Yadav
In office
1977–1980
Preceded byRajendra Prasad Yadav
Succeeded byRajendra Prasad Yadav
Personal details
Born8 (1918)
DiedApril 13, 1982(1982-04-13) (aged 63)
Spouse(s)Sita Mandal
Children7

Biography

B. P. Mandal came from the Hindu Yadav community in Bihar.[6] He was born in a family of landlords. B. P. Mandal was the son of Ras Behari Lal Mandal, a wealthy Zamindar. According to local legend, his father raised the demand for Indian independence at the 1911 Delhi Durbar. Ras Behari Lal Mandal later became one of the leading politicians from Bihar. Mandal was a Member of Parliament for Madhepura from the state of Bihar from 1967 to 1970 and from 1977 to 1979.

He was the Chief Minister of Bihar,[7] governing for 30 days in 1968, a period of intense political instability (his predecessor Satish Prasad Singh was the first Chief Minister from OBC but only for three days)

Civil rights commission

In December 1978, Prime Minister Morarji Desai appointed a five-member civil rights commission under the chairmanship of Mandal. The commission's report was completed in 1980 and recommended that a significant proportion of all government and educational places be reserved for applicants from the Other Backward Classes as these were the socially-deprived communities historically that had been treated as outcasts and denied job opportunities as well as proper education in the public institutions that were upper-caste dominant at the time.[5]

The commission's report was tabled indefinitely by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. A decade later, Prime Minister V. P. Singh implemented the recommendations of the Mandal Report and led to what is now known as the caste-reservation system in India. [5]

The Mandal commission was not well-received by a number of upper-caste communities leading to nation-wide protests and uproar especially by the students of Upper-castes who saw their educational opportunities under threat while many of the people from these communities still continue to consider the policies to be unnecessary and biased.[5]

Commemoration

Various statues and memorials were made in his memory in the state and one of the most glorious one stands in front of the governor's House in Patna. Every year his birth anniversary is celebrated in a formal ceremonial manner by his son Manindra Kumar Mandal and his other family members in their village and the Chief Minister and other cabinet members of the state in Patna, Sasaram and at various other spots. [8]

See also
  • List of Chief Ministers of Bihar

References
  1. "Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal Biography". newstrend.news. Newstrend. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  2. Kumar, Sajjan (24 October 2020). "In Bihar, the importance of being Nitish Kumar". Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  3. Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar. Penguin Books India. 1 January 2011. ISBN 9780670084593.
  4. Jaffrelot, Christophe (1 January 2010). Religion, Caste, and Politics in India. Primus Books. ISBN 9789380607047.
  5. Maheshwari, Shriram (1991). The Mandal Commission and Mandalisation: A Critique. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 18–26. ISBN 9788170223382.
  6. Witsoe, Jeffrey (2013). Democracy against Development: Lower-Caste Politics and Political Modernity in Postcolonial India. University of Chicago Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780226063508.
  7. Witsoe, Jeffrey (2013). Democracy against Development: Lower-Caste Politics and Political Modernity in Postcolonial India. University of Chicago Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780226063508.
  8. "on-bp-mandal-s-100th-birth-anniversary-nitish-rjd-and-ljp-vie-for-his-legacy". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
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