Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo

Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo KCIE (31 March 1912 – 23 February 1975) was an Indian politician and the last ruler of the princely state of Patna in Odisha before Indian independence in 1947. He was the President of the Ganatantra Parishad political party from 1950 to 1962 and the President of the Odisha state unit of the Swatantra Party after the merger of the Ganatantra Parishad with it in 1962.^[1] Deo was elected multiple times to the Odisha Legislative Assembly.^[2] He served as the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1967 to 1971.^[3] Early in his political career, Deo served as a Member of Parliament in the 1st Lok Sabha.^[4]

Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo KCIE
6th Chief Minister of Odisha
In office 8 March 1967 – 9 January 1971
Preceded by	Sadashiva Tripathy
Succeeded by	Bishwanath Das
Personal details
Born	(1912-03-31)31 March 1912 Balangir, Patna State, British India
Died	23 February 1975(1975-02-23) (aged 62)
Political party	Swatantra Party
Other political affiliations	Ganatantra Parishad
Spouse	Kailash Kumari Devi
Children	6 (4 daughters and 2 sons, including Raj and Ananga)
Relatives	Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo (grandson)
Alma mater	Mayo College, St. Columba's College, Hazaribagh
Profession	Politician

Early life and education

Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo in his youth.

Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo was born in a royal Rajput family to Raja Aditya Pratap Singh, the ruler of the small princely state of Seraikela and Rani Padmini Kumari Devi.^[5][6] He was adopted by Maharaja Prithwiraj Singh Deo of Patna state, which had been ruled by Chauhan Rajputs.^[6] He studied in the Mayo College in Ajmer and the St. Columbia's College in Hazaribagh.^[1]

Deo became the Maharaja of Patna state in 1924 and assumed full powers in 1933.^[2] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in the 1946 New Year Honours list.^[7] In 1948, Patna was merged with the Union of India.^[2]

Political career

In 1951, Deo was elected to the 1st Lok Sabha from Kalahandi Bolangir constituency in Odisha as a Ganatantra Parishad candidate.^[8]

In 1957, he was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Titilagarh constituency and also became the leader of the opposition in the Odisha Legislative Assembly.^[1][9][2] Deo was the Minister of Finance in this government.^[1] The coalition government collapsed on 21 February 1961 and the President's rule was imposed in the state.^[2] In 1961, he was re-elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Kantabanji constituency.^[10] Then he merged his party Ganatantra Parishad with Swatantra Party. He became the head of the Odisha state unit of the Swatantra Party.

In 1967, he was re-elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Bolangir constituency.^[1] He led a coalition government formed by the Swatantra Party and the Odisha Jana Congress of Harekrushna Mahatab.^[11] He became the Chief Minister of Odisha in March 1967.^[1] Deo was the first Chief Minister of Odisha who was not from the Indian National Congress.^[2] He resigned from the office on 9 January 1971 and President's rule was imposed.^[12] In 1971 and 1974, he was re-elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from the same constituency.^[13][14]

Personal life and family

In 1932, aged 20, Deo married Kailash Kumari Devi, the daughter of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala.^[2] Through his wife, Deo's brother-in-law was Vipin Khanna.^[2][15] Deo and Kailash Kumari Devi had two children, Raj Raj Singh and Ananga Udaya Singh.^[2][16][17] Deo's children and his descendants have been active in Odisha politics.^[17] He died on 23 February 1975. His grandson, Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, is a politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party and is serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha.^[18]