Journalists of Allahabad paid homage to Bal Krishna Pandey on his 25th death anniversary on Feb 25. Shri Bal Krishna Pandey, was a renowned journalist of his time. It was on this day, he left us forever but also left indelible imprints which continue to inspire us even today.
Though he was a native of Pratapgarh district but attained his education in Allahabad as his father was working in Allahabad Bank at Civil Lines.
After completing his Intermediate from KP Inter College, Allahabad in 1937, he got job in Allahabad bank and was posted in Jhansi.
At that time, Bundelkhand was a bastion of Communist Party and as a young man, he was fascinated towards Communist ideology.
He joined Communist Party of India and resigned from lucrative job of Bank. Soon he became a very active member, known as Card Holder of CPI.
However, he did not give up his academic pursuit and did his BA and LL.B simultaneously.
Later he left the party due to some political differences but remained a leftist by heart throughout the life.
After leaving Party, his second inning began by choosing Journalism as his next career. He worked in Navjeevan and many newspapers first in Jhansi and thereafter in Rewa.
In Rewa, he had friendship with political stalwarts like Arjun Singh and Tarun Coomar Bhaduri, father of Jaya Bhaduri and the then special correspondent of Statesman, Bhopal.
However, later he shifted to Allahabad and joined Hindi daily Bharat as city reporter.
After closure of Bharat, he joined another popular Hindi daily – Amrit Prabhat, a newspaper owned by famous Patrika Group. He was a thorough gentleman and was known for his honesty and simplicity. He died in. the year 2000 on this day at his Bairahana residence.
