Jayaprakash Narayan, Indian National Congress and Party Politics, 1934–1954

Published date01 December 2015
Date01 December 2015
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/2321023015601739
Subject MatterArticles
Article
Jayaprakash Narayan, Indian
National Congress and Party
Politics, 1934–1954
Rakesh Ankit1
Abstract
Jayaprakash Narayan, better remembered for his exploits in the Quit India movement of 1942, social
work in the 1960s and his call for a ‘Total Revolution’ in 1974, was also a leading Congress socialist
between 1934 and 1948, as well as active in non-Congress socialist politics till 1954. An admirer
of Jawaharlal Nehru, he was a vocal critic of Vallabhbhai Patel. A radical with pronounced leftist
tendencies, he was a bête noire of an elite-based politics of capitalist, communitarian and majoritarian
impulses. Twice a member of Congress Working Committee, he was repeatedly invited by Nehru
to join his government after Patel’s death and was spoken of as Nehru’s successor in the 1950s.
These somewha t overshadowed aspects of his political life, in comparison to his social leadership, make
it an important prism of Congress politics, its culture of ‘control and consensus’ and characteristics of
‘continuity and change’ with the colonial state.
Keywords
Indian National Congress, socialist politics, Jayaprakash Narayan, Nehru
Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) is today popularly remembered, first, as a ‘young hero of the Quit India
rebellion of 1942’, next as a ‘politician turned social worker’ in 1960s and finally, as a figure of great
‘moral authority’ who called for ‘total revolution’ in April 1974 against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
(Guha, 2008, pp. 136–140, 305, 344, 478–492). This trajectory is also reflected in the literature on JP
in titles like Red Fugitive (Singh, 1946), Rebel Extraordinary (Lal, 1975) and Loknayak (Argali, 1977;
Ram, 1974).2 This literary blanket is largely woven by two threads: JP’s participation in Congress’
rebellion in the 1940s, leading to India’s independence; and his leadership of the social movement in
the 1970s, leading to the first non-Congress central government in India, called by many as second
freedom (Devashayam, 2012). Two of the best-known writers on him, Bimal Prasad and Bipan
Chandra, have both focused on JP in the 1940s and 1970s, respectively, while establishing him as
1 Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
2 Also see Bright, Life and times of Jayaprakash Narayan; Scarfe and Scarfe, JP: His biography; and Chowdhuri, Leftism in
India, 1917–1947.
Studies in Indian Politics
3(2) 149–163
© 2015 Lokniti, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2321023015601739
http://inp.sagepub.com
Corresponding author:
Rakesh Ankit, T-1, Room 237, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat Narela Road,
Sonipat 131001, Haryana, India.
E-mail: rakesh.ankit@gmail.com

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT