Bhagwat Jha Azad

Bhagwat Jha Azad (28 November 1922 – 4 October 2010) was an Indian independence activist and politician who was Chief Minister of Bihar from 14 February 1988 to 10 March 1989.^[1][2] He was at various times a member of parliament and a member of the Bihar state legislature.

Bhagwat Jha Azad
18th Chief Minister of Bihar
In office 14 February 1988 – 10 March 1989
Preceded by	Bindeshwari Dubey
Succeeded by	Satyendra Narayan Sinha
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 2 April 1962 – 27 November 1989
Preceded by	Banarsi Prasad Jhunjhunwala
Succeeded by	Chunchun Prasad Yadav
Constituency	Bhagalpur
Personal details
Born	(1922-11-28)28 November 1922 Godda, Bihar and Orissa Province, British India
Died	4 October 2011(2011-10-04) (aged 88) Bhagalpur, Bihar, India
Children	Kirti Azad (son)

Political career

Azad was a 20-year-old college student when he took part in a demonstration as part of the Quit India Movement in 1942. He was hit by a bullet in his leg. Later, Azad was also arrested several times by the British.^[3]

Independence came in 1947, exactly five years after the Quit India Movement, and Azad was advantageously poised to make a career in politics. He was part of an influential cohort of politicians from Bihar who gained prominence on the national stage during the post-independence stage, known as the "Young Turks." He was a contemporary of Bindeshwari Dubey, Abdul Gafoor, Chandrashekhar Singh, Satyendra Narayan Sinha and Kedar Pandey (all future chief ministers of Bihar); and of Sitaram Kesri, future national president of Indian National Congress.^{[citation needed]}

Azad represented Bhagalpur constituency in the Lok Sabha for five terms.^[4] He was elected to the third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth Lok Sabha. He served as a Union minister of state from 1967 to 1983 in the ministries of agriculture, education, labour and employment, supply and rehabilitation, civil aviation and food and civil supplies. He was a veteran Congressman, and Chief Minister of Bihar between 14 February 1988 and 10 March 1989.^[4]

Cricketer Kirti Azad and former Indian Policy Service officer Yashovardhan Azad are his sons.

Bhagwat Jha Azad died in 2011 aged 89. He had been ailing for several years.^{[citation needed]}