Early life
Lokanath Misra was born on 21 November 1922. He studied in Ravenshaw College in Cuttack. In 1928, he joined the Congress party and became the education minister of Odisha in 1941.
Contribution to Constitution making
Misra was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Odisha on a Congress party ticket. He intervened in the debates on freedom of religion, national language, and the right to property.
Later Contributions
Misra was elected twice to the Orissa State Legislative Assembly as a member of the Congress party. Later, he joined the Swatantra party and became its vice-president. In 1977, he joined the Janata Party.
Misra was nominated to the Rajya Sabha for three consecutive terms (1960 to 1978). He served as the Governor of three north-eastern states – Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh (1991-1997). While he was the Governor of Nagaland (1992-1993) he researched on ‘mantras’ and their efficacy in different fields, including treatment of diseases.
Misra passed away on 27th May 2009.
- Misra opposed the right to propagate religion as a fundamental right. He believed that people should be allowed to propogate their religion but adding it as an inalienable fundamental right might create bad blood.
- He argued that a strong centre could only be achieved by adopting a common language.
- Misra warned the Assembly that it would cause unnecessary conflict if they did not define the term ‘property’, ‘possession’ and ‘acquisition’ in the context of Article 31.