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www.GOALias.blogspot.com106 Politics in India since IndependenceCredit: R. K. Laxman in the Times of IndiaLoknayakJayaprakashNarayan (JP)(1902-1979): Amarxist in his youth;founder generalsecretary of theCongress SocialistParty and the Socialist Party; a hero of the 1942Quit India movement; declined to join Nehru’scabinet; after 1955 quit active politics; becamea Gandhian and was involved in the Bhoodanmovement, negotiations with the Naga rebels,peace initiative in Kashmir and ensured thesurrender of decoits in Chambal; leader of Biharmovement, he became the symbol of opposition toEmergency and was the moving force behind theformation of Janata Party.The movement was beginning toinfluence national politics. JayaprakashNarayan wanted to spread the Biharmovement to other parts of thecountry. Alongside the agitation led byJayaprakash Narayan, the employees ofthe Railways gave a call for a nationwidestrike. This threatened to paralyse thecountry. In 1975, JP led a peoples’march to the Parliament. This was oneof the largest political rallies ever heldin the capital. He was now supportedby the non-Congress opposition partieslike the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, theCongress (O), the Bharatiya Lok Dal, theSocialist Party and others. These partieswere projecting JP as an alternative toIndira Gandhi. However, there were manycriticisms about his ideas and about thepolitics of mass agitations that he wasemploying. Both the Gujarat and Bihar