Remembering Dr. Rajendra Prasad On 55th Death Anniversary, India’s First And Longest Serving President Who Was Also A Gold Medallist in Law

20th century India produced many remarkable personalities and one of the tallest among them was Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first president of the Indian Union under the Constitution of India and also the only president to have held office for two terms, thus becoming the longest serving President of India . He was born on December 3,1884 and breathed his last on February 28, 1963. Today marks the 55th death anniversary of India’s first president Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

Rajendra Babu, as he was lovingly called by leaders and people close to him, contributed to India’s freedom struggle and was a teacher and lawyer by profession before giving it all up for a life in social/political field. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and decided to join the Indian National Congress during the Independence movement. He also had to spend timed in jail as the Britishers punished him for participating in freedom struggle. Rajendra Babu played an important role in the Salt Satyagraha of 1931, Non-cooperation movement and the Quit India movement of 1942.

Born in Zeradei village of Siwan District in Bihar, Rajendra Prasad was born to Babu Mahadev Prasad who himself was a scholar. The responsibility of Rajendra babu’s education in his initial years was given to the local maulvi. He learned Persian, Urdu, Hindi and Algebra and then moved to Chapra district for higher education. He also worked as a teacher there but the yearning to become a lawyer took him to Calcutta’s Presidency college from where he not only obtained his doctorate but was also awarded the gold medal in the subject.

After getting transferred from Calcutta High Court to the Patna High Court, he also founded the Bihar Law Weekly. But attracted by Mahatma Gandhi, he joined the freedom struggle and joined Indian National Congress. In the 48th session of Congress held in Bombay (Mumbai) between October 24-28, 1934, he was also elected as president of the Indian National Congress Movement.

Dr. Prasad also served the Indian State before independence as he was appointed the minister of food and agriculture in the interim government before India won freedom. He also presided over the Indian Constituent Assembly from 1946 to 1949, which had the huge task of discussing and debating the Indian Constitution which is also the largest written constitution in the world.

On 26th January, 1950, at 10.24am, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was sworn in as the first President of India. After the 1952 general election (the first election to be held in independent India), he was again chosen as the president with overwhelming majority and repeated this feat by getting elected as president in 1957 too. He retired from public life after completing his term in 1962 and thus holds the record for being the only President of India to have held the position for two terms and 12 years. He was succeeded by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

There are two facts about Dr Rajendra Prasad that are bound to surprise and marvel the readers. The first is that Dr. Rajendra Prasad, as the President of India, made sure that he travelled the length and breadth of the country for at least 5 months in a year and that too in a train compartment. His train would halt at small stations where he would interact with citizens from rural parts to understand their problems. The second is that after 1962, Dr Prasad decided that it was time for him to retire from politics and gave his final address at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan where he asked for forgiveness from more than lakh people who had come to listen to him. His words were “You can praise me or congratulate me or do anything, but please do not forget to forgive me for all my faults.”

It is rare to find such candidness and humility in leaders holding high office today anywhere in the world. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was also awarded with the highest civilian award in India, the Bharat Ratna in 1962. He also wrote his autobiography in Hindi titled "Aatmakatha" meaning autobiography. Aspiring students and leaders can learn a lot from the life of Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2018 04:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).