Dr.Harekrushna Mahatab

Harekrushna Mahatab (ହରେକୃଷ୍ଣ ମହତାବ) (21 November 1899 – 2 January 1987) was a leader of the Indian National Congress, a notable figure in the Indian independence movement and the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1946 to 1950 and again from 1956 to 1961. He was popularly known by the sobriquet Utkal Keshari.
Harekrushna Mahtab was born at Agarpada village in Bhadrak district of Odisha. He was born to Krushna Charan Das and Tohapha Debi. After passing his matriculation examination from Bhadrak High School, he joined Ravenshaw College, Cuttack but left his studies in 1921 to join the independence movement.

Mahatab was the first Chief Minister of Odisha from 23 April 1946 to 12 May 1950. He was the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry from 1950 to 1952. He became the secretary general of the Congress Parliamentary Party in 1952. He was the Governor of Bombay from 1955 to 1956. After resigning from Governorship in 1956, he again became the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1956 to 1960. During his tenures as the Chief Minister, he played significant role in the merger and integration of former princely states, shifting of the capital from Cuttack to Bhubaneshwar and the sanction and construction of the multi-purpose Hirakud Dam Project. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1962 and became the vice-president of the Indian National Congress in 1966. In 1966, he resigned from the Congress and led the Orissa Jana Congress. He was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly in 1967, 1971 and 1974. He was imprisoned in 1976 for protesting against the emergency.

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Dr. Minati Mahapatra, Jogabyasa Bhoi,Prof. Sadanand Sahoo,Prashant Bhuyan,Madhusudan Mishra,Rosalin Pattsani,Pushpanjali Mishra,

Sangram Dhar,Ajay Nanda,N.A. Shah Ansari,Dr. Dillip Srichandan,Dr. Piyush Rout,Sushanta Khuntia

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