Bihar boasts of one of the most fascinating political histories in India. With Assembly polls underway in the state, The Indian Express brings a series of articles that tell the history of Bihar politics through the tenure of its 23 chief ministers. This article tells the story of SN Sinha, Bihar’s 19th CM. When Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad had to step down amid Congress infighting, he backed Satyendra Narain Sinha as his successor. Because of a stint with Janata Party via Congress (O), Sinha was well connected among Opposition leaders as well. He was finally picked as CM by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi himself.The change was not only that of the Chief Minister. The party entirely revamped its state unit and machinery.On March 3, 1989, the change started with Governor and ex-Rajasthan Chief Minister Jagannath Pahadia replacing RD Pradhan on the chair. Jagannath Mishra replaced Tariq Anwar as Bihar Congress chief. All seven Union ministers from Bihar were also asked to resign and so was AICC treasurer Sitaram Kesri.Not only that, to replace AICC in-charge of Bihar, Rajiv Gandhi brought Anantha Ramulu Mallu, a Lok Sabha MP from Nagarkurnool, as general secretary in-charge of Bihar. Like some of his predecessors, Sinha’s election as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader was also “unanimous.”Sinha, a Gandhian and freedom fighter, then 70, took oath as chief minister on March 11, 1989.SN Sinha was the son of the first Deputy-CM of the state, Anugrah Narain Sinha. He was elected to the Lok Sabha first in 1952 and then in 1957 from Aurangabad on a Congress ticket. After serving two terms in the Bihar Assembly, he again reached Lok Sabha. During the Congress split of 1969, he went with Congress (O) and was elected to Lok Sabha in 1971 on its ticket. In 1977 and 1980, he fought on a Janata Party ticket. But before the 1984 Lok Sabha polls, he returned to the Congress and was elected from the same seat.Story continues below this adThe chief minister’s chair had almost come to him on a few earlier occasions too, eventually slipping away.For a few monthsm before becoming the CM, he was travelling in blood-stained central Bihar areas affected by caste-violence, asking the upper caste zamindars to treat the Harijans and other deprived sections as equals.After taking oath as CM, he resigned from Lok Sabha and entered the Legislative Council.Tenure as CMAs CM, Sinha could not effectively tackle the violence and unrest going on in the interiors of the state. The 1989 Bhagalpur riots, which saw over 1,000 killed, and the agitation launched by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha were reasons for the traditional vote-base of the Congress, like Muslims and Tribals, shifted their allegiance. Most OBC communities were anyway opposing it.Story continues below this adLok Sabha elections were held at the end of November 1989. In Bihar, Congress won just four of the 54 seats (it had won 48 seats in 1984) with the newly formed Janata Dal of VP Singh winning 32 seats and the BJP bagging eight. VP Singh replaced Rajiv Gandhi as PM on December 2, 1989.In Bihar, even the chief minister’s family suffered setbacks. Sinha’s wife Kishori Sinha lost from Vaishali (she had won in 1980 on a Janata Party ticket and in 1984 on a Congress ticket), his daughter-in-law Shyama Singh lost from their home turf Aurangabad, and Shyama Sinha’s mother Madhuri Singh, who had won Purnea Lok Sabha seat in 1980 and 1984, also lost in 1989.The Congress leadership was stunned. Action was quick.Sinha had been made the CM nine month back also with an eye on Rajput votes. However, all Rajput candidates fielded by the Congress in Bihar lost. This was quite enough to fix responsibility upon him.Within four days of VP Singh taking oath as PM, Rajiv Gandhi asked Sinha to resign. On December 6, Jagannath Mishra, who had been eyeing the post for many years, was sworn in again to replace Sinha. Sinha passed away in December 2006 at the age of 89.Story continues below this adSinha’s legacy is kept alive by his family, which is well-knitted in politics and public life. In 1999, his daughter-in-law Shyama Sinha won again from Aurangabad and in 2004, his son, retired IPS officer Nikhil Kumar, won it, both on Congress tickets. Shyama Sinha’s elder brother is ex-IAS officer and ex-Rajya Sabha MP NK Singh. Her younger brother Uday Singh also represented Purnea in Lok Sabha twice on a BJP ticket. Uday Singh is now the president of Jan Suraj Party of Prashant Kishore.