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BP Mandal | PERSONALITY
agement. Finally, the hostel management had to chairman of the Commission should have a high
give in to his demands. credibility. In such a situation, BP Mandal was made
After completing his studies, he was posted as the chairman of the Commission because he was a
a magistrate, but destiny had other plans for him. strong voice for interests of backward classes and
In 1952, the nation was on the verge of holding its strong advocate of providing them reservations. In
first elections. Leaving his job, BP jumped into the 1953, Kalekar Commission was formed for protect-
election fray from Madhepura assembly seat. He ing rights of backward classes, but its recommen-
became an MLA in his very first attempt. BP’s father dations were never implemented.
Ras Bihari Lal Mandal had also started a campaign In December 1980, the Commission headed by
for wearing the sacred thread by backward castes Mandal submitted its report to the then Home
in Bihar with the aim of eliminating stereotypes Minister Giani Zail Singh. In the report, more than
and discrimination. Following in his footsteps, BP 3,500 castes of backward classes of all religions
emerged as the messiah of the backward classes were identified, and it was recommended to give
and as a visionary of social justice in Bihar. Amidst them 27 per cent reservation in government jobs
political upheavals, he became the state’s seventh and educational institutions. Sixteen months after
Chief Minister on 1 February 1968. However, his submission of the report, he died in Patna on 13
government lasted only about 50 days. During April 1982. After remaining suppressed for about
1970s, there was a lot of anger against social dis- a decade, the Mandal Commission report was
crimination in the country. After the Emergency, accepted in 1990. BP Mandal is no more, but his
Morarji Desai took over as the Prime Minister in recommendations made him the hero of the silent
1977. After this, the second Backward Classes revolution of the backward classes against social
Commission was formed. It was decided that the discrimination.n
August 16-31, 2025 || NEW INDIA SAMACHAR 13
