Jagannath Mishra

Jagannath Mishra (24 June 1937 – 19 August 2019) was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar and as Minister in the Union Cabinet. He was also Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha between 1988 - 1990 and 1994 - 2000. His involvement was at a high level in the Indian National Congress. He was elected Chief Minister of Bihar three times. After his brother L.N. Mishra's assassination, Jagannath Mishra became Bihar's most powerful Congress leader in the late seventies and eighties. Prior to the emergence of Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1990, Jagannath Mishra was rated as the biggest mass leader in the Congress. He was affectionately called "Doctor Sahib". He was also referred to as "Maulana" Jagannath because of his clout with the Muslims that he had earned by making Urdu the second official language of the state in 1980.

Mishra supported and practiced populism, and had earned popularity among the teachers by taking over hundreds of private primary, middle and high schools across the state in 1977. After leaving Congress, he joined the Nationalist Congress Party and later the Janata Dal (United). On 30 September 2013, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ranchi convicted him, along with 44 others, in the Fodder Scam. He was sentenced to four years imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 rupees. On 25 October 2013, the Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Mishra in fodder scam case. Mishra maintained his name was deliberately included in the scam on the instruction of the Congress president Sitaram Kesri. Dr. Mishra was acquitted in two fodder scam cases on 23 December 2017 and 19 March 2018. In two cases his Appeal is pending in Jharkhand High Court. Provided by Wikipedia