Jayaprakash Narayan, who was born 11 October 1902 and died in 1976, left behind a legacy few political leaders can compare with.

New Delhi: Fumbling to establish a united front, a Jayaprakash Narayan is what India’s beleaguered opposition needs today.

Narayan, a political stalwart of India’s turbulent 1970s with a cross-ideological appeal, was born this day in 1902. Thirty-nine years after his death, his life continues to hold important lessons for political leaders of the day, many of whom found their wings under his leadership.

Efforts by a motley group of opposition parties to take on the Narendra Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) together seem to be in a shambles.

They have no one leader who can be the fulcrum to hold everyone together: No leader with the combined advantage of a mass base, ideology and political conviction to get other opposition parties to rally behind them. In short, no leader like Jayaprakash Narayan, or JP, as he is more popularly known.

When late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi finally called off the Emergency in 1977, opposition parties began to talk about the elections that were to follow.

It was JP who insisted that all parties come together to take on the very powerful Indira Gandhi, and the Janata Party was formed in January 1977. This was a grouping as odd as it could be, with political outfits of conflicting hues — the socialist, the Right-wing — all coming under one umbrella.

A splinter group of the Congress, as well as the Communist Party of India (Marxist), too, felt persuaded to not allow a division of opposition votes and fight alongside the Janata Party.

Losing a stalwart

In the elections that followed, the Janata Party pulled off a stunning victory. Soon enough, however, political rivalries and ideological differences took over.

JP’s deteriorating health prevented him from playing an active role as the glue that held everyone together.

On 8 October 1979 — three days before his 77th birthday — JP died. The party, thus, lost perhaps its most powerful face and unifying force. The Janata Party government collapsed and the elections in 1980 brought Indira Gandhi back to power.

JP, also addressed by supporters as ‘Lok Nayak’ or hero of the masses, was born at Sitab Diara village on 11 October 1902 (as per available records). Then a part of the Bengal Presidency, the village now falls in Uttar Pradesh.

When he arrived in the United States for higher studies in 1922, it was Marxism that influenced him the most. Upon returning to India seven years later, he joined the Congress and played an active role in the Independence struggle.

It was, however, his Bihar movement against corruption and nepotism in politics and call for ‘total revolution’ in 1974 that qualify as his most enduring legacy, having produced several political stalwarts.

It was during the JP movement that young political leaders like Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Nitish Kumar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Yadav and Sushil Modi first shot to prominence.

No holds barred

JP had a unique way of communicating his political differences, and his letters to Indira Gandhi continue to give insights into his persona, state of mind and the politics of the time.

He wrote his first letter to the former PM on 21 July 1975, a month into the Emergency, while in jail.

“Having muzzled the press and every kind of public dissent, you continue with your distortions and untruths without fear of criticism or contradiction,” he wrote

“If you think that in this way you will be able to justify yourself in the public eye and damn the opposition to political perdition, you are sorely mistaken,” he added.

In yet another letter a month later, he wrote, “I know you are promising the return of democracy some day. But even if that day comes, it will not see the democracy of the Fathers of the Nation, but that of your international patrons.”

He then threatened to go on a fast unto death, but was persuaded not to send this letter to the Prime Minister.

A unique man with ingenious methods, JP left behind a political legacy that continues to stand tall. While it is difficult to imagine if India’s politics would have been different had JP not died when he did, there is little doubt on his birth anniversary that the opposition parties would do well to imbibe his teachings on the art of bringing diverse players together.