Honored as Basudevpur Gandhi, Gauranga Mohanty was born on 7 October 1910 in Barandua village of Basudebpur police station, in Bhadrak district. His father, Judhisthira Mohanty was a peon in the collectorate of Balasore. When he was a student at Balasore District school, he was influenced by his cousin Nandkishore Das who was an ardent Gandhian. He stayed in his house whose life had inspired him. Though he joined the salt satyagraha in Inchudi, he escaped the notice of the police. He, therefore, utilized that opportunity to strengthen the satyagraha in Balasore in the absence and arrest of frontline leaders. He picketed before the liquor and opium vendors in Balasore and was arrested and detained in Cuttack and camp jail in Patna. After his release, he again renewed his activities by working with Sardar Surendra Nath Das from whom he collected the bulletins and distributed them the night. In this process, he was arrested by the Markona police in 1932 and was sentenced to two months imprisonment and fined one hundred rupees. But as he was not in a position to pay the fine his house was attached and auctioned. After his release from jail, he worked for the Harijans’ welfare by visiting their villages. He successfully launched the temple entry movement of the Harijans. Thereafter he was entrusted with the responsibility of organizing the congress committee in Basudevpur. In 1941, he launched the individual satyagraha and was arrested. But three months after his release, he decided to challenge the government by forming a parallel government in his area which he named as ‘ Banchhanidhi chakra’s named after national poet Banchhanidhi Mohanty. He was declared president of that government. He was again arrested and was detained till 6 March 1944. After the country's independence, he remained aloof from active politics and concentrated on people’s service till his last. He passed away on 4 January 1998.
Source: Sahoo, Nrusingha Charan, Ame Odia, Vol III, Bhubaneswar, 2017