Raipur, 22 February 2023
The biography of the nominated Governor of Chhattisgarh Shri Vishwabhushan Harichandan is as follows:-
Father’s name – Late Shri Parshuram Harichandan. He was a litterateur, dramatist and freedom fighter. After independence, he was the Vice President of the undivided Puri Zilla Parishad from its inception till its abolition.
Date of Birth – 3 August 1934
Place of Birth – Banpur, Khordha district of Odisha
Educational Qualification: S.C.S. Honors degree in Economics from College, Puri. M / s. LLB from Law College, Cuttack degree of
Spouse: Mrs. Suprabha Harichandan
Son : Mr. Prithviraj Harichandan
Mr. Prasanjit Harichandan
- Hailing from a family of warriors and freedom fighters in Odisha, Shri Vishwabhushan Harichandan, joined the High Court Bar of Odisha in the year 1962 and Bharatiya Jana Sangh in the year 1971. He gained fame as a lawyer and a political leader in a short span of time by the force of his hard work and determination.
- He wrote historical J.P. Played an important role in the fight for the support of democracy in the movement, for which he had to stay in jail for several months during the Emergency. As President of the High Court Bar Association Action Committee, Mr. Harichandan led the lawyers’ movement in Odisha against the supersession of judges in the Supreme Court in 1974
- A veteran of Odisha politics, Mr. Harichandan was elected to the State Legislative Assembly of Odisha five times in the years 1977, 1990, 1996, 2000 and 2004. He won the 2000 assembly election against his nearest rival by a margin of 95,000 votes, breaking all previous records in Odisha.
- Mr. Harichandan was a minister in Odisha government for 4 times. He remained a minister in the years 1977, 1990, 2000 and from 2004 to 2009. During his ministerial tenure, he handled important portfolios like Revenue, Law, Rural Development, Industries, Food and Civil Supplies, Labor and Employment, Housing, Cultural Affairs, Resource Development Department, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry. He was the founding President of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Odisha in 1980 and was elected President for three more terms till 1988. He was also the leader of the BJP Legislature Party in the State Legislative Assembly for 13 years i.e. from 1996 to 2009. While in the cabinet, he played major roles, for which he always remained in the public eye. He always takes up the issues of the people and fights for them, due to which he is highly respected by the administrators and politicians, irrespective of the party they belong to.
- Mr. Harichandan has always fought for human rights, democracy, democratic values, civil-rights, especially the rights of Dalits and against corruption.
- Mr. Harichandan is a distinguished columnist who has written several articles on contemporary political issues, historical, social and cultural matters which have appeared in all leading newspapers of Odisha and some of the English weeklies in Delhi.
- literary contribution
His major literary contributions include a number of works, including “Mahasangramar Mahanayak”, a play centered on Baxi Jagabandhu, the supreme commander of the Paik Revolution of 1817. He also wrote six one-act plays which are as follows – Marubhatash, Rana Pratap, Shesh Jhalak, which is based on Queen Padmini of Mewar. Ashta Shikha, which is based on the sacrifice of Tapang Dalbera. Manasi, (social) and Abhishapta Karna, (mythological) drama. The name of his collection of 26 short stories is “Swachh Sasanara Gahan Katha”, and “Ye Matir Dak” is a compilation of some of his selected published articles. “Sangram Saari Nahin”, his autobiography, focuses on his struggles in political, administrative, social, cultural and other fields during his long public life.
- political career
During his tenure as cabinet minister in the year 1977, essential commodities, which were found to be in short supply during the Emergency. He not only made essential commodities freely available but also kept the price-line constant. His strong action against black marketeers and hoarders which made him very popular in Odisha.
- As Revenue Minister in Odisha, he insisted on computerization of land records, simplification and codification of revenue laws for the convenience of administration and illegal and fraudulent transfers by amending Regulation 2 of 1956 to make it more stringent Took bold steps for the restoration of tribal land and reorganized the revenue administration by making it more people-friendly.
- As Industries Minister in Odisha, he took the initiative to introduce Single Window System and got the Industries Facilitation Act passed. Due to his intense efforts, the state’s ‘RR’ (Rehabilitation and Replacement) policy became the best RR policy in the country at that time. Mr. Harichandan implemented this policy as the chairman of the cabinet sub-committee, which brought about a revolutionary change in the field of rehabilitation of displaced persons.
- He protested strongly against the sale of all surplus government land for repayment of state government loans. He said that the owner of the land is not the government but the state and the government has only limited powers like trustee. He vehemently opposed the sale of surplus government land, which forced the state cabinet to change its decision.
- Since 1978, he has been working tirelessly to get national recognition for the Paik Rebellion of 1817, a historic war of independence by the Oriya people under the leadership of Bakshi Jagabandhu against British rule. As a result, Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave instructions to organize its bicentenary celebrations at the national level.
