Jayaprakash Narayan Birth Anniversary: All you need to know about the leader of modern India

Jayaprakash Narayan was a renowned freedom fighter and one of the most respected political leaders of independent India. Popularly referred to as JP or Lok Nayak which means people’s leader, he was known for his outstanding leadership which inspired modern India. He will always be remembered for leading the Opposition to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s policies in the mid-1970s.

Among the many social movements, the country remembers him for his support for the Bhoodan movement, where he worked relentlessly for the poor and the underprivileged. From there, he became a symbol of the national conscience in the fight against corruption and some of the most unpopular practices of Indira Gandhi’s government.

Apart from being a man of great intellect and ethical values, he was far from power because he wanted to work for the people and strengthen democratic foundations. Later on, 25 June, 1975, he spearheaded the campaign against the Emergency which was declared by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Who was Jayaprakash Narayan aka JP?

Born on 11 October, 1902, Narayan, was the fourth child of his parents Harsu Dayal Srivastava and Phul Rani Devi. He and his family resided in the Saran district’s Sitab Diara which is nearly 118 km from Patna and came from the Kayastha community.

At the young age of nine, he left his village to enroll in Class 7 of a college institution in Patna. In the year 1918, Narayan took the State Public Matriculation Examination and was awarded a District merit scholarship to Patna College. Later, he went to the University of California, Berkeley, where he was exposed to the ideas and principles of Marxism.

There were many incidents and situations where JP became closer to Jawaharlal Nehru following which he became an important leader of the freedom movement. Not just that, he also got associated with the socialist movement during that time and became a national hero after he scaled the high walls of the Hazaribagh Central Jail .

Post the independence of India, Nehru was interested and keen to involve him in the government but JP was not attracted to power politics.

When did JP became famous and joined politics?

After showing no interest in politics, Narayan once travelled to Patna to hear Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s opinion against Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement. The thing that impacted Narayan was Maulana’s plea to abandon English education.

Narayan returned to state politics, where he led a silent walkthrough of Patna on 8 April, 1974. He protested against excessive inflation, lack of supplies, unemployment, and necessary commodities.

Narayan led a student movement in 1974, that grew into the Bihar Movement or JP Movement . This movement eventually became popular as people’s movement across the country.