- Nandini Satpathy
-
Nandini Satpathy (Oriya: ନନ୍ଦିନୀ ଶତପଥୀ ) (9 June 1931 in Cuttack – 4 August 2006 in Bhubaneswar), was an Indian politician and author, and was the former Chief Minister of Orissa.
Contents
Family
Nandini Satpathy came from a Brahmin family.She was the eldest daughter of Kalindi Panigrahi, author of MATIRA MANISA Oriya book).
She was married to Devendra Satpathy who was twice the Member of Parliament from Dhenkanal. First from the Congress party and later from the Bharatiya Lok Dal.
Political career
From an early age, young Nandini was familiar with all the big names in politics and literature of Orissa & India. Born on 9 June 1931, she grew up in Pithapur, Cuttack . Smt.Nandini Satpathy the then Nandini Panigrahi while pursuing her Masters of Arts (Oriya) at Ravenshaw College, became a luminary of the ‘Students Federation’, the student wing of the Communist Party. In 1951, there was a student movement in Orissa against the rising cost of College education. Young Nandini was a student leader pea excellence and while protesting, she was lathi charged by the police. The issue later developed into a national youth movement. She, along with many others, was jailed. In jail she met another member of the Student Federation named Sh.Devendra Satpathy who later became her life partner. Sh.Devendra Satpathy much later got elected as the member of Parliament of India ( Lok Sabha) for two terms from Dhenkanal.
In 1962, due to great leadership of Biju Patnaik, the Opposition had been decimated and it was the glorious time of the Congress rule in Orissa. The Assembly boasted more than 80 Congress members out of 140. At the national level the talk was to bringing more women into the Parliament of India. The Fire brand Smt. Nandini Satpathy the then president of the Women’s Forum was the first choice to be elected by the Orissa State Legislative Assembly. Thus Smt. Nandini Satpathy entered Rajya Sabha in 1962. She served two terms at the Rajya Sabha.
When Mrs. Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister Smt.Nandini Satpathy became Minister attached to Prime Minister. Smt. Satpathy also handled the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting ( most of the progress we see today in regard to I&B has been her contribution to the nation). A few years later, in order to fill the void created by the departures of the likes of Sh. Mahatab, Sh.Chaudhury, and Sh. Biju Patnaik from the Congress party, Smt Nandini Satpathy came back to the state of Orissa. She became Chief Minister and during Emergency, put Nabakrusna Choudhuri, Rama Devi and all eminent persons in jail. Among all the States, Orissa had the least number of leaders jailed during Emergency.
After Mrs. Gandhi imposed a state of emergency to cling to power in 1975, Mrs. Satpathy as the chief minister of Orissa did her best to resist Mrs. Gandhi's draconian politics.Later she fell out with Mrs. Gandhi and after the latter called for General Elections in 1977, which the Congress lost, she was a part of a group of protestors led by Jagjivan Ram and formed the Congress for Democracy.
Later she returned to the Congress fold.Thus in 1989, at the behest of Rajiv Gandhi she rejoined the Indian National Congress. It was immposible for any one to revive the Congress in Orissa as there was a strong anti incumbency of 15 years of Congress rule in Orissa. In perticular the mis-rule and highly corrupt rule of J.B patnaik. She was elected as M.L.A from Gondia and remainded a Legislator till year 2000. It was her decision to quit politics and she did not contest the 2000 State assembly election. Her long absence marginalized her within the state party. She was always very critical of how the party was run in Orissa.
Literary career
She was an Oriya writer and her work has been translated and published in a number of languages. In 1998, she was given the prestigious Sahitya Bharati Samman Award, for her outstanding contribution to Oriya literature. Her last major work was the translation of Taslima Nasreen's Lajja into Oriya.
Court Case
In 1977, complaints were registered against her under the Prevention of Corruption Act. On the strength of this first information, in which she and others were shown as accused persons, investigation commenced. During the course of the investigation she was interrogated with reference to a long string of questions, given to her in writing. She refused to answer any questions. Her counsel argued that under Art.20 (3) of the Indian Constitution every person had a right against self incrimination. Justice V.R Krishna Iyer in a widely appreciated judgment strengthened the rights of an accused, granting her a right to a lawyer and recognizing her right against self incrimination. The court also held that a woman has the right to be questioned at her residence in the presence of male relatives and she can be brought to the police station only after she is formally arrested. She has the right to be searched only by a woman.
See, Nandini Satpathy v. PL Dani, (1978) 2 SCC 424
It took her more than 15 years to prove her innocence in the long drawn court battle and by the end she won all the cases against her. She was cleared of all the false charges.
Death
She died of an illness at her residence in Bhubaneswar on the 4th day of August,2006.
Smt.Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust
In the year 2006, Smt.Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust ( SNSMT ) was established. The main objective of setting up the Memorial was to, ‘‘perpetuate her memory by acknowledging her rich, outstanding and valuable contribution to the society, the democratic institution, towards development process in Orissa’s Socio-political life and to carry forward her social cause activities and programmes. Particularly for the elevation of the under privileged and promote her cherished ideas nurtured in her struggle for strengthening the socio - economic - political - cultural fibber of Oriissa .’’ Noted and awarded young socio-political activist Shri. Suparno Satpathy heads SNSMT as its Chairman. SNSMT in year 2007 launched the much appreciated social cause ‘Project Nandini’. This project works for the betterment of semi urban & rural women.SNSMT also works on youth issues,leadership development, ar/ culture, environmental concerns and much more...
References
Categories:- Indian politicians
- Indian writers
- Chief Ministers of Orissa
- 1931 births
- 2006 deaths
- Indian women in politics
- Members of the Orissa Legislative Assembly
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
