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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

JP Andolan 1974: Urge to Sampurna Kranti that shook Indira Govt

Jayaprakash Narayan was a veteran Congress & CSP leader. He played a crucial role in the Civil  disobedience movement & Quit India movement. In 1942, Narayan was jailed for civil disobedience  against British rule and imprisoned in Nasik Jail, where he met Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani,  Achyut Patwardhan, and other national leaders.  

JP Narayan left the Congress party after the independence in 1948, & started his party named social  life. In the 1950s, Jayaprakash was semi-retired from the public & after that, he decided to support the Bhoodan movement which was led by Acharya Vinoba Bhave. And after he decided to lead the Bihar  movement.  

Among his awards was the Magsaysay award for Public Service in 1965 and the Bharat Ratna, India’s  highest civilian award, awarded posthumously in 1999.  

His legacy is best known for leading opposition to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the mid-1970s, for  whose removal he had called for a “total revolution”.  

Gujarat Movement  

At this time, Indira Gandhi and her government demanded donations from the state legislatures of  the states. Chiman Bhai, the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time, was also asked for Rs 10 lakh,  causing prices of many items to rise in order to arrange funds. Many agitators were killed by police brutality as a  result of these agitations.  

As a result, the Chief Minister had to resign on 24 January 1974. However, Chiman Bhai’s attitude  caused the movement to flare up. JP Narayan then got involved into the movement. He tried to keep power  in his hands through the Governor before Jayaprakash Narayan came to Gujarat. On 9 February 1974,  two days before Narayan arrived, Chiman Bhai resigned and President’s rule was introduced in  Gujarat.  

Bihar Movement 1974  

A political movement of Bihar students was initiated in 1974 in the Indian state of Bihar. To lead the  movement, the group formed Bihar Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti (BCSS). The demands of these youth  leaders related to education and food in hostels. Among them were Sushil Kumar Modi, Narendra  Singh, Basisth Narayan Singh, and Ram Vilas Paswan. 

After leading the Bihar movement, the demand for the movement changed to the dissolution of  the state assembly & government resignation. Now the Bihar movement changed to the JP movement,  and Jayaprakash became the Loknayank of the public.  

Total Revolution (Sampurna Kranti)  

A large crowd gathered at Gandhi Maidan in Patna when Jayaprakash spoke on 5 June 1974. By 1 July  1974, 1,600 agitators and 65 student leaders were arrested, including members of his Patna rally,  which called for a protest at the Bihar Legislative Assembly.  

A movement was started by him called Total Revolution (Sampurna Kranti) that aimed to transform  society by engaging youth in social activities. On 15 July, college campuses were shut down by students  and colleges and universities were closed. Some colleges reopened after that date and exams took  place. JP called on students to boycott exams, but many students took them anyway. 

Jayaprakash spoke to the Congress government of Indira Gandhi at a massive gathering in Patna on  18 November. It became clear to him that fighting within the democratic system was important as  opposed to a party-less democracy, and so he began to contact opposition parties, which eventually  gave rise to the Janata Party.  

End & Aftermath  

The Bihar Movement evolved into a Satyagraha, whereby volunteers continued to demonstrate in  front of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, causing arrests to begin on 4 December. Because she did not  want to concede to protestors’ demands for the dissolution of the assembly as she did in Gujarat,  Indira Gandhi didn’t replace Chief Minister Abdul Ghafoor of Bihar.  

JP traveled through India to strengthen and unite opposition parties against Congress. Morarji Desai’s  hunger strike forced the Gujarat election to be delayed until his hunger strike was over. After losing  the 1975 elections, Indira Gandhi was declared ineligible for the Lok Sabha in 1971 due to electoral  malpractice by the Allahabad High Court. She was effectively removed from the Prime Minister’s office  as a result of the ruling. She refused to resign and went to the Supreme Court to fight her case. She  was successfully removed from Parliament and barred from running in elections for six years.  

On the night of 25 June 1975, she issued a nationwide State of Emergency to protect her position.  Jayaprakash Narayan and Satyendra Narayan Sinha, both prominent opposition figures, were arrested  without prior notice immediately following the proclamation of emergency. Dissenting members of  the ruling party were also arrested. 

After the revoked emergency on 21st March 1977, JP guided the formation of the Janata Party (a  vehicle for the full spectrum of opposition to Indira Gandhi). Before the residence of Satyendra  Narayan Sinha, party president of the Bihar Janta party, a huge crowd of youth activists gathered. A  non-Congress party formed India’s first government at the center after gaining power with the Janata  Party.

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