Law Kumar Mishra
With Bihar heading into yet another Assembly election, political leaders are rolling out their slogans. Today one can hear things like Chirag Paswan’s “Bihar First, Bihari First” or Prashant Kishor’s “Bihar on the Path of Change.”
But back in 1967, one cry captured the imagination of the state in a way no campaign line has since: “My beloved children, the pieces of my heart.” ( मेरे जिगर के टुकड़े). It was more than a slogan — it became a rallying call that reshaped Bihar’s political landscape.
Mahamaya Prasad Sinha, once president of the Bihar Congress Committee, turned to this phrase to connect with students and young people. The backdrop was tense: weeks before the polls, police opened fire on students at B.N. College in Patna, killing Dinanath Pandey.
Outrage spilled into the streets, with students torching government buildings. The sitting Chief Minister, Krishna Ballabh Sahay, was a skilled administrator and the man who had enforced the abolition of the zamindari system, but that legacy offered little protection from the rising anger.
Breaking with Congress, Mahamaya Sinha formed the Jan Kranti Dal. Touring the state, he called out to his “pieces of heart” — urging the youth to throw Congress out of power. In one electrifying meeting, he tore his shirt and shouted: “When bullets strike my children, how can I remain whole?”
Students became his foot soldiers. On bicycles, they canvassed towns and villages, scattering handbills and pamphlets that carried his fervent appeals.
The verdict stunned the establishment: in Patna West, the sitting Chief Minister Sahay was defeated by none other than Independent candidate Mahamaya Prasad Sinha, by seven thousand votes.
The new government’s very first decision in the name of the youth was radical: the Pass Without English policy, which allowed students who had failed English in the matriculation exam to still be declared successful.
For the first time, Bihar saw a coalition that brought together unlikely partners — the Jana Sangh, both Communist factions (CPI and CPM), the Samyukta Socialist Party, the Praja Socialist Party, and the Swatantra Party. Karpoori Thakur became Deputy Chief Minister and also held the education portfolio. Under his leadership, students were granted concessional fares on state transport buses and even separate counters at cinema halls.
Then campaign was simple and least expensive. Ramawatar Shastri, CPI member of Lok Sabha from Patna was seen campaigning on a pedaled rickshaw, addressing a meeting at low middle income group colony at Chitkohra Bazar, where a make shift podium on two wooden cots were built.
Deena Nath Verma, Congress candidate and education minister having his residence and office at Jakkanpur too seeking votes on a rickshaw( there was no auto then. Most of the influential candidates like Dr AK Sen, Prof Naramdeshear Prasad has their students as star campaigners.
Kamakhya Narain Singh of Swatantra Party who was called Maharaja of Ramgarh campaigned on helicopter and had seen successfully fielding all his family members, staff, driver and even cook at his Padma Palace as candidates in the assembly elections.
