Gandhi Priced his Autograph at Rs 5 in Bhagalpur,to Donate Quake Victims

Patna: If the story of Gandhi becoming ‘’Mahatma’’ began in Bihar’’s Champaran, it reached its crescendo in the state’s Bhagalpur district, where he united the people for the freedom struggle.

Mahatma Gandhi arrived in Bhagalpur via Saharsa and Bihpur in May 1934 to oversee the earthquake relief work being carried out by the Congress. He stayed at the residence of barrister and freedom fighter Deep Narayan Singh and in his address at the town's Lajpat Park appealed to the people to support the relief efforts.

Gandhian thinker Kumar Krishnan says a lot of people present at the gathering wanted Gandhiji's autograph, and he obliged them by charging Rs 5 for each signature. The money collected was donated to the quake victims.

The house where Gandhiji stayed is a heritage structure and was converted into the residence of the Bhagalpur District Magistrate after Deep Narayan Singh donated it to the government post-independence.

Interestingly though, this wasn't Gandhi's first trip to Bhagalpur. He had first visited it on October 15, 1917, to preside over a conference of the Students’’ Association of Bihar in Kathalbadi area. (IANS)

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