New Delhi: On Friday, the 122nd birth anniversary of freedom fighter and politician Jai Prakash Narayan, parts of Lucknow became a flash point between Akhilesh Yadav and the local administration after Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) was barricaded and police deployed to stop the visit of the Samajwadi Party chief. Barred from entering JPNIC, Akhilesh was forced to garland a statue of ‘JP’ near his residence.
The former chief minister was similarly denied permission to visit the site last year. However, he scaled the gate to pay tribute to the Emergency-era hero. This time, tin shades were placed over the main entrance to prevent a repeat of last year.
When Akhilesh learnt of this development, he went to the JPNIC a night before his scheduled visit to see why the tin sheds had been placed there.
The next day, when heavy police force was deployed outside Akhilesh’s residence, Samajwadi Party workers gathered in large numbers to show their support.
It drew attention to Akhilesh’s fascination with the freedom fighter, and the political messaging behind it. After garlanding the statue Friday, Akhilesh shared a video on X about JPNIC, titled ‘Museum of socialism’, with a voiceover by actor Amitabh Bachchan.
It explains who JP Narayan was: a man who fought against poverty, inequality, and the Emergency. It ended with a line that said that JP had only one thing on his mind—“Desh ke Yuva” (youth of the nation). In the mid-1970’s, ‘JP’ was very popular among young Indians for his courage in fighting against the Indira Gandhi-imposed Emergency.
समाजवादियों ने लोकनायक के सम्मान में स्मारक बनवाए और भाजपा ने सिर्फ़ रोड़े अटकाए। यही सकारात्मक और नकारात्मक सोच का अंतर है। pic.twitter.com/WDmwgT8gZe
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) October 11, 2024
Some Samajwadi Party functionaries drew a comparison between the Emergency era and today. When Akhilesh was stopped by UP police Friday, SP spokespersons called it an “aghoshit apatkal” (undeclared emergency). They claimed that “Akhilesh bhaiya” would fight “tanashahi” (dictatorship) the same way ‘JP’ once did.
Samajwadi Party workers also compared Akhilesh’s image of scaling the JPNIC gate last year to to offer floral tribute to the statue of JP Narayan’s successful escape from Hazaribagh jail by scaling its wall in 1942 during the anti-British struggle.
Leaders close to Akhilesh told ThePrint that his challenge to the adminstration before the Uttar Pradesh assembly bypolls is meant to relay a message, not only to cadres but also youngsters across parties, that he will raise their voice the same way ‘JP’ did.
One senior SP leader claimed that to amplify the party’s “PDA” (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) slogan, “We need the youth with us and ‘JP’ is still an idol for youth in politics. If BJP can bring Savarkar or Sardar Patel then why can we not talk about ‘JP’.”
Explaining how the party’s alignment with JP Narayan began, Marinder Mishra, vice president of Samajwadi Shikshak Sabha and founder of Samajwadi Adhyan Kendra in UP’s Siddharthnagar, said, “Akhilesh ji’s fascination towards JP is inspired by neta ji Mulayam Singh Yadav (his father)”.
“Actually when neta ji formed his party in 1992, he took a leaf out of Chaudhary Charan Singh’s book of OBC politics. He took Samajwadi ideology from (Independence activist) Dr Ram Manohar Lohia’s vision but he added the youth aspect, inspired by ‘JP’ since he was a youth icon. Since then Samajwadi Party has been known as the party of youth.”
Marinder added that “Akhilesh ji took this vision forward after he took over as a CM”.
While the construction of the JPNIC started in 2013, the decision to build something in Uttar Pradesh in JP Narayan’s name was taken during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s chief ministership between 2003-2007.
“When Akhilesh ji took oath as CM he proceeded with a big vision. He wanted to make JP’s museum on a large scale, inspired by Delhi’s India Habitat centre (IHC) and India International centre (IIC). He decided to make it even bigger than those centres,” he said.
Marinder also mentioned that three party seniors considered close to Akhilesh—Mata Prasad Pandey, who is also Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the UP Assembly, Rajendra Choudhary, the party’s chief spokesperson, and Ram Govind Chaudhary (former LoP)—were closely associated with the ‘JP’ movement that mounted a challenge to Indira Gandhi.
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A message to Kayasthas
One senior SP functionary claimed there was another reason behind Akhilesh’s tribute to ‘JP’: the caste factor. ‘JP’ was Kayastha, an influential caste in eastern and central part of UP, though it comprises only around 2 percent of the state’s total population.
At a time when Thakurs are seen to be rallying behind CM Yogi Adityanath and Brahmins are divided between all four major parties, with a large chunk of them still aligned to the BJP, Kayasthas are considered the third influential caste among the ‘upper castes’.
SP spokesperson Deepak Ranjan, a Kayastha, said, “In 2018, on JP’s birth anniversary, I organised an event under the banner of ‘Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Manch’ at the party office in which several Kayastha leaders, including MP Shatrughan Sinha, former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, and former UP chief secretary Alok Ranjan were felicitated by him. So, Akhilesh ji always has a high regard for members of our community.”
Pankaj Kumar, a UP-based analyst and a professor at Allahabad University, said ‘JP’ was known for his credibility and courage. “Both these factors are appealing but missing in today’s politics. It’s good to see if Akhilesh Yadav or any leader is fascinated by the politics of ‘JP’. He was a role model for many in the 70’s. His politics resonated with the youth.”
Adding, “Earlier, ‘JP’ was more popular in Bihar and Lohia in UP but when Akhilesh announced a big museum during his tenure, he brought Narayan’s name to the centre of UP politics.”
Shilp Shikha Singh, an assistant professor at Lucknow’s Giri Institute of Development Studies said, “In the era of political dominance, Akhilesh is trying to give a message that he is doing politics for the rural and common people. Throughout his life, ‘JP’ raised the issues of these two segments. Akhilesh is trying to capture that sentiment.”
A message to Congress
One section within the Samajwadi Party feels that Akhilesh has also relayed a message to ally Congress by bringing ‘JP’ to the centre of UP politics since the freedom fighter was known for his anti-Congress stand and agitation against Indira Gandhi.
Akhilesh, said party sources, did not want the BJP to co-opt the legacy of ‘JP’ like they did with Sardar Patel, given gthat Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have also made social media posts on JP Narayan’s birth anniversary.
Taking a jibe at Akhilesh’s approach, UP BJP spokesperson Avaneesh Tyagi said, “We all have huge respect for JP Narayan. He was a stalwart but if Akhilesh Yadav is so fascinated by him then why did he ally with the Congress, because ‘JP’ was never a pro-Congress leader. So, I think this was only a drama to gain publicity on the birth anniversary of ‘JP’, there is nothing that they have done which would amount to following his path.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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