Bihar boasts of one of the most fascinating political histories in India. As the state heads to Assembly polls later this month, 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 Jagannath Mishra, Bihar’s 14th CM. You can click here to read about his predecessor, Abdul Ghafoor. The next edition will focus on his successor, Ram Sundar Das.The Congress faction, led by Indira Gandhi, credibly established itself as the true version of the grand old party and swept to power in the 1972 Bihar Assembly elections with sweeping promises. Chief among these was a stable government after years of political chaos and presidential rule. Yet, despite the majority given by the electorate, stability remained elusive. Within three years, Bihar was on its third chief minister.The assassination of powerful Congress leader and union minister Lalit Narain (L N) Mishra in a bomb blast at Samastipur railway station on January 2, 1975, had eliminated the kingmaker behind the previous two incumbents—Kedar Pandey and Abdul Ghafoor. Interestingly, he had orchestrated their exit as well. With the state rudderless and the Emergency just months away, Indira Gandhi scrambled for a replacement.Options abounded, but none inspired confidence. Former CM Kedar Pandey angled for a comeback, while Assembly Speaker Harinath Mishra and Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Sitaram Kesri lobbied quietly. However, on April 6, 1975, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) elected Jagannath Mishra, L N Mishra’s younger brother, as its leader. Five days later, on April 11, the 38-year-old Mishra took oath as chief minister, making him the second youngest (after five-day CM Satish Prasad Singh, who became at the age of 32 only) in Bihar’s history to that point.Mishra’s credentials were modest but solid. A former economics lecturer at Muzaffarpur-based Bihar University, he had entered the Legislative Council in 1968, served as an MLC until 1972, and won the Jhanjharpur Assembly seat in the mid-term polls that year. His ascent reflected both familial patronage and the high command’s preference for a controllable figure during turbulent times.***Mishra’s first term lasted barely two years, overshadowed by national upheaval. The internal Emergency, declared on June 25, 1975, suspended civil liberties and centralised power in New Delhi. Bihar became a laboratory for authoritarian excess—press censorship, forced sterilisations, and mass arrests of opposition leaders. The state was the main battlefield for the JP Movement as well. Mishra implemented the directives loyally but could not shield Congress from the backlash.The 1977 Lok Sabha elections delivered a crushing verdict: Congress was wiped out across north India. Morarji Desai’s Janata Party formed the central government in March, and on April 30, governments of nine Congress-ruled states were dismissed and President’s Rule was imposed on them, including Bihar. Mishra’s government fell unceremoniously.Story continues below this adFresh Assembly polls in June 1977 reduced the Congress to just 57 seats. The Janata Party with 214 seats stormed to power, and Mishra, after a brief interregnum under Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, became Leader of the Opposition in 1978. Over the next three years, he rebuilt the party apparatus from the margins, honing his skills in legislative combat.***Indira Gandhi’s dramatic return in January 1980 as Prime Minister triggered retaliatory dismissals of state governments, including Bihar, then ruled by the Janata Party and other non-Congress parties. Bihar held Assembly elections soon after; Congress secured 169 of 324 seats—a clear majority. Mishra, the sitting Leader of Opposition, was the obvious choice. On June 8, 1980, he was sworn in for his second stint.Consolidation followed. Like his late elder brother, despite all factionalism, Mishra centralised control over the party’s state unit, CLP and the state government. But the Congress high command—wary of regional satraps—rotated chief ministers across several states to prevent challenges, and Bihar was no exception. Mishra’s autonomy was thus limited, though he dominated Patna’s power corridors.His government’s most infamous act came on July 31, 1982: the Bihar Press Bill. The legislation empowered the state to proscribe publication of “grossly indecent or scurrilous matter” or content “designed for blackmail.” Intended to curb sensationalism and extortion rackets, it was seen nationally as a gag on free speech. Journalists in Bihar and beyond protested and termed it a throwback to Emergency-era repression. Facing sustained agitation, the state government withdrew the bill in 1983—after a year of damaging headlines.Story continues below this adBy mid-1983, Mishra’s relations with New Delhi also soured. He publicly questioned central policies on mining, irking the party leadership. Though he controlled the state unit, unpopularity among the media and a large section of the electorate kept eroding his base. In this situation, on August 11, he was summoned to New Delhi by the party high command. Following a meeting with Mishra, Rajiv Gandhi, then the Congress general secretary, announced Mishra’s resignation and said that a new leader would be elected soon. Three days later, on August 14, Rajput leader Chandrashekhar Singh (an MP from Banka, and Union Minister of State)), replaced him.However, Mishra’s influence persisted amid the internal mess of the Bihar Congress. This soon became apparent: Indira Gandhi’s assassination in October 1984 elevated Rajiv to the PM post, while the Congress secured 196 seats in the 1985 Assembly polls. The high command nevertheless cycled through three chief ministers in quick succession: Bindeshwari Dubey, Bhagwat Jha Azad, and Satyendra Narain Sinha. None stabilised the faction-ridden unit. The party was also beset with several challenges at the central level.***As the 1990 elections loomed, a national anti-Congress wave gathered momentum. Former Congressman V P Singh’s Janata Dal, bolstered by defections over the Bofors scandal, allied with old socialists and the BJP. In Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav symbolised the churn among backward castes.Desperate, the high command reinstated Mishra in late 1989. His third term began under siege. He courted Muslim voters aggressively, earning the derisive nickname “Maulana Mishra” from rivals. Welfare schemes and minority appeasement failed to stem the tide. On March 10, 1990—his last day in office—Janata Dal’s Lalu Prasad Yadav was sworn in after a decisive victory. That marked the last day of a Congress government in Bihar, a feat it has not achieved in the state since.Story continues below this adMishra won his Jhanjharpur seat in 1990 and again became Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. Elevated to the Rajya Sabha later, he served as Union Minister for Rural Development under Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. A strong believer in astrology and occult practices, he consulted tantriks during political crises—a quirk that amused detractors. His party, once hegemonic, now survives on alliances, its vote base devoured by regional outfits like Lalu’s RJD and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), among others.His final chapter was ignominious. Convicted in the multibillion-rupee Animal Husbandry (Fodder) Scam, he served prison terms in the new millennium. Released on bail for health reasons, he lived quietly until his death in November 2019, aged 82.Mishra’s political legacy lives through his son Nitish Mishra, who held Jhanjharpur thrice on JD(U) tickets, joined the BJP in 2024, and serves as a minister in Nitish Kumar’s outgoing cabinet while contesting the 2025 polls from the same seat.Next – Ram Sundar Das