Every nation has that one defining moment that alters its history and future simultaneously. India had one such moment in the form of the Jay Prakash Narayan movement.
Up until 1974, Indian politics was rather vanilla with only Congress recycling itself back into power repeatedly. However, all that changed when socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan arrived on the scene.
He decided to spearhead a campaign which would change the face of Indian polity. The movement took place from 1974 to 1975 and was launched against Indira Gandhi’s government.
The then Indian PM had been found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court. JP Narayan advocated a programme of social transformation which he termed ‘Sampoorna Kranti’ (total revolution).
On 6 April 1974, ‘JP’ as he was known, first decided that he will not remain a ‘mute spectator’ to the government’s repressive policies.
JP takes a vow
A major turning point came around November 4 when a police officer hit JP with a baton while he was leading a protest in Patna, the capital of the eastern state of Bihar. In the accident, JP broke two ribs and vowed to rout the Congress.
It eventually led to Indira Gandhi imposing the infamous emergency in the country. The movement and JP’s charisma mobilised the students and different political parties.
Congress (O), Jana Sangh, Swatantra Party and Socialist Party amongst others merged to form Janata Party. It defeated the Indira Gandhi govt in the 1977 elections.
Eventually, the JP movement will lead to the formation of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) as we know it today.
Several big leaders that would dominate the Indian landscape in years to come were inspired by this movement. While detractors argue that the JP movement was too socialist in nature and fell apart rather quickly, a faction sternly believes that the JP movement shook the tectonics of Indian politics.
