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{{Short description|Indian politician (1898–1974)}}
{{use Indian English|date=May 2014}}
{{Copy edit|date=August 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Krishna Ballabh Sahay
| nickname = K B Sahay
| image = Krishna Ballabh Sahay (cropped).jpg
| caption =
| office = [[Bihar Legislative Council|Member Bihar Legislative Council]]
| term_start = 1937
| term_end = 1939
| office1 = [[Constituent Assembly of India|Member of Constituent Assembly of India]]
| term_start1 = 9 December 1946
| term_end1 = 26 January 1950
| predecessor1 = ''Position established''
| successor1 = ''Position abolished''
| office2 = [[Government of Bihar|Revenue Minister, Government of Bihar]]
| term_start2 = 20 April 1947
| term_end2 = 2 August 1962
| 1blankname2 = Chief Minister
| 1namedata2 = S. K. Singh
| office3 = [[Bihar Legislative Assembly|Member Bihar Legislative Assembly]]
| term_start3 = 1952
| term_end3 = 1967
| constituency3 = [[Giridih]]
| office4 = 4th [[Chief Minister of Bihar]]
| term_start4 = 2 October 1963
| term_end4 = 5 March 1967
| predecessor4 = [[Binodanand Jha]]
| successor4 = [[Mahamaya Prasad Sinha]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1898|12|31|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Sheikhpura]], Bengal Presidency, British India
| death_date = {{death date and age|1974|6|03|1898|12|31|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Hazaribagh]], Bihar, India
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| alma_mater = [[St. Columba's College, Hazaribagh|St. Columba's College]]
| profession = [[Social activist]], [[politician]]
| signature = KBSAHAYSIGN.jpg
}}
'''Krishna Ballabh Sahay''' (31 December 1898 – 3 June 1974), was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the fourth [[Chief Minister of Bihar]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cm.bih.nic.in/formercm-bihar.htm |title=Welcome to the Official Website of Chief Ministers of Bihar |accessdate=2011-03-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319084817/http://cm.bih.nic.in/formercm-bihar.htm |archivedate=19 March 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

== Early life ==
Sahay was born to an [[Ambashtha]] [[Kayastha]] Hindu family on 31 December 1898 in [[Sheikhpura]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=कृष्ण बल्लभ सहायः बिहार के वो मुख्यमंत्री जिनका पोता भी उनके खिलाफ नारे लगाता था |url=https://www.thelallantop.com/kisse/krishna-ballabh-sahay-was-the-fourth-cm-of-bihar-know-his-political-journey-and-interesting-facts/ |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=LallanTop - News with most viral and Social Sharing Indian content on the web in Hindi |language=hi}}</ref> district of [[Bihar]]. He was the eldest son of Munshi Ganga Prasad, who served as a [[Darogha]]<ref name=":0" /> under the [[British Raj]] at Padma [[Hazaribagh district|Hazaribagh]]. In 1919, he graduated with first class in B.A. Hons. English from [[St. Columba's College, Hazaribagh]] then affiliated to [[University of Calcutta|Calcutta University]].

== Awards ==
He was awarded the Sir Edward Albert Gait's Gold Medal from the then Governor of Bihar and Orissa [[Edward Albert Gait]] for his excellence in English Language for his coherence & cohesion. His works are kept in Bihar Assembly.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} The [[Indian National Congress]] pays their tributes to Sahay every year on his Birth Anniversary.

== Independence movement ==
Soon thereafter in 1920, Sahay jumped into the fray giving up further studies by joining the [[Civil Disobedience Movement]] at the call of [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. Between 1930 and 1934, he was jailed four times for different periods while taking part in the independence movement. During one of these incarcerations, he met his mentor [[Sri Krishna Sinha|Sri Babu]] and this bond of friendship remained intact throughout their lives. He was also close to [[Anugrah Narayan Sinha]], the other legendary nationalist from [[Bihar]].

In 1942 came Gandhi's battle cry of "Do or Die" for the "[[Quit India Movement]]". Before this, senior leaders of Bihar including [[Rajendra Prasad]] & [[Anugrah Narayan Sinha]] visited Bihar to convey the conclusions of the "Vardha Accord" as well as to charter an action plan for Bihar during the Quit India Movement, in an important meeting at Sadaquat Ashram. Sri Krishna Ballabh Sahay was a notable contributor to this plan. "Quit India Movement" was launched with great fierceness all over India and K B Sahay led the movement at Hazaribagh. The British Government ordered immediate arrest of all its leaders. An order to arrest Sahay was passed by Deputy Commissioner, Hazaribagh (Order No.: 132 of 10.08.1942) and the very next day he was sent off to jail. In jail, he was instrumental in the escape of [[Jayaprakash Narayan]] from Hazaribagh Central jail along with his associates namely Rama Nandan Mishra, Yogendra Shukla, Suraj Narayan Singh, Sri Gulab Chand Gupta and Sri Shaligram Singh on 9 November 1942. As a consequence, he was sent off to [[Bhagalpur]] jail with orders for rigorous imprisonment.
<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rajeshsahay1965.blogspot.com/2014/04/kbsahay-in-news-papers-over-years.html|title=Newspaper Sources|last=Sahay|first=Rajesh|date=26 April 2014}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=This is a Blogspot source. While it cites ''The Hindustan Times'' and ''The Telegraph'', Blogspot is not a reliable rehost of a newspaper source.|date=January 2023}}

== Political life ==
Earlier, when provincial autonomy was granted by the [[British Raj]], Sahay was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1936 and was made a parliamentary secretary in Sri Krishna Singh's ministry in 1937.

Sahay contested the first assembly elections of 1952 from [[Giridih]] and won by a handsome margin to return as the revenue minister to the Government of Bihar in Babu's cabinet. But in 1957, he was defeated in the assembly election from [[Giridih]] by Raja Kamakhya Narayan Singh of Padma (Hazaribag). However, K. B. Sahay won the assembly elections of 1962 to enter the Bihar Assembly for the third time. In 1957, during the leadership struggle between Dr. S K Sinha and Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha, he supported Anugrah Sinha for becoming [[Chief Minister]]. However Sri Krishna Babu won and again became the Chief Minister with Anugrah Sinha as his deputy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/unsung-heroes-detail.htm?7127 | title=K.B.Sahay }}</ref>

== Chief Minister of Bihar ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2024}}
In the years that followed, [[K. Kamaraj|Kamraj]], the veteran Congress leader came forward with his "Kamraj Plan" to strengthen the party. On 19 September 1963, with the announcement of "Kamraj Plan" came the news of [[Binodanand Jha]] being taken as one of the eight Chief Ministers to look after the affairs of [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]]. [[Beer Chand Patel]] threw his hat in the contest for the [[Chief Minister of Bihar]]. Sahay who was deputy minister in Jha's cabinet was the other contestant. [[Satyendra Narayan Sinha]], the prominent Education Minister, who was decidedly second-in-command in the [[Binodanand Jha]] Cabinet announced his support for Sahay. Patel was no match for Sahay, who polled double the number of votes as Patel. Mr. Sahay was elected from [[Patna]] [[West]] constituency

On 2 October 1963, the birth anniversary of Gandhi was celebrated in Bihar along with the swearing in ceremony of Sahay as the fourth [[Chief Minister of Bihar]] with [[Satyendra Narayan Sinha]] again becoming second in command.

Sahay lost the 1967 elections but won the local body elections in 1974 to enter the [[Bihar Legislative Council]] as an MLC. He faced enquiries by the Aiyyar Commission in between but was vindicated. Sahay met with a fatal road accident on 3 June 1974 just after winning the election, on his way back to his native place [[Hazaribag]].

From the leaders of Bihar in 20th century, Sahay has helped the people of this state to had constructive services which rendered towards the progress of Bihar. He attained it by determination, systematic planning and hard labour. He dreamed of an independent India and an ever-progressing Bihar.

==Death==
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2024}}
KB Sahay died on 3 June 1974, when his black [[Hindustan Ambassador]] BRM101 car was hit by a truck which reversed deliberately on [[Hazaribag]] – [[Patna]] Highway in Sindoor. Mr. Sahay was on the front seat of the car as usual, being driven by Surendra. The collision caused him to die on the spot. He was travelling from Patna to Hazaribagh.

=== Gallery ===
<gallery widths="200" heights="120">
File:Constitution of India (calligraphic) 461.jpg|[[Constitution of India]]
</gallery>

== Accomplishments in industries and education in [[Bihar]] & [[Jharkhand]] ==
Sahay was responsible for setting up of several industries in the state, prominent among them are the [[Barauni Refinery]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iocl.com/AboutUs/BarauniRefinery.aspx|title=IndianOil Corporation | Barauni Refinery|access-date=8 March 2012|archive-date=20 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141120014434/http://www.iocl.com/AboutUs/BarauniRefinery.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[Bokaro Steel Plant]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sail.co.in/pnu.php?tag%3Dbokaro |title=SAIL - Bokaro Steel Plant |accessdate=2012-11-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107223600/http://www.sail.co.in/pnu.php?tag=bokaro |archivedate= 7 November 2012 }}</ref> Both were commissioned during his tenure as Chief Minister of Bihar. The [[Heavy Engineering Corporation]] [[Ranchi]] where the current [[Jharkhand Government]] also runs, was commissioned during his tenure.

As the Chief Minister of Bihar, he gave full support for the establishment of Sainik School for [[Indian Armed Forces]] in [[Tilaiya]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sainikschooltilaiya.org/sweb/ContentPage.aspx?ContentMaster=1 |title=Welcome to Sainik School Tilaiya Website |access-date=8 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107035540/http://www.sainikschooltilaiya.org/sweb/ContentPage.aspx?ContentMaster=1 |archive-date=7 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was also instrumental in starting women's college in [[Hazaribag]] in 1963, which is named after him.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kbwomenscollege.org/index.html |title=K B Women's College Hazaribag |access-date=8 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713011224/http://www.kbwomenscollege.org/index.html |archive-date=13 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
* https://twitter.com/mib_india/status/1609125799675990016?s=46&t=tTUr3qdnOXR7ZPm7PGhzhg

* https://www.newsnationtv.com/states/bihar/for-the-lovers-of-freedom-the-sub-inspector-in-the-british-police-also-fought-with-his-father-kb-sahay-397001.html

* https://x.com/himantabiswa/status/1793557205888979288?s=46

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahay, K. B.}}
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:Chief ministers of Bihar]]
[[Category:Members of the Bihar Legislative Council]]
[[Category:People from Patna district]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Bihar]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Bihar]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]

Krishna Ballabh Sahay - Revision history

Rajeshwar Hospital at 06:49, 6 March 2026