In 1917, Mahatma Gandhi visited Champaran to support the cause of the peasants revolting against the forceful cultivation of Indigo by the British authorities. Gandhi invited Dr Prasad to the area to undertake a fact-finding mission regarding the claims of both the peasants and the British. Prasad, motivated by Gandhi, extended his full support to the movement.
In 1920, when Gandhi announced the Non-Cooperation Movement, Prasad gave up his lucrative law practice and dedicated himself to the cause of freedom. He led the movement in Bihar.
He was jailed twice by the British government, first during the Salt Satyagraha in 1931 and later in 1942, during the Quit India Movement.
The First President of India
Prasad was appointed the Food and Agriculture Minister in the interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946. Soon, he was elected President of the Constituent Assembly on 11 December 1946. He presided over the Constituent Assembly from 1946 to 1949 and helped frame the…