Bishwanath Das supported the
Indian independence movement from both Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. He was a member of the legislative council of
Madras Province from 1921 to 1930. He was instrumental in the creation of a separate state for the Odia-speaking people. After the separation of Orissa/Odisha from
Bihar and Orissa Province on 1 April 1936, he became its prime minister (premier) on 19 July 1937. He became a member of the
Constituent Assembly of India in 1946 representing Orissa. He served as the
governor of Uttar Pradesh from 16 April 1962 to 30 April 1967. In 1966, he was made the president of
Servants of the People Society (Lok Sevak Mandal founded by
Lala Lajpat Rai). After the
1971 Odisha Legislative Assembly election, the
Utkal Congress,
Swatantra Party and
Jharkhand Party formed a coalition. Das became
Chief Minister of Odisha under the coalition government. He was in office from 3 April 1971 to 14 June 1972. He set up multiple trusts for providing free legal support, food and vedantic learning institutions for the poor in Orissa and Uttar Pradesh from his lifetime earnings and salary. The institutions include Veda Bhavan at Puri. == Notes ==