In the history of modern India, the name of LoknayakJayprakash Narayan is etched in golden letters.
Loknayak JP’s leadership ensured that India’s democratic fabric was preserved and strengthened during the testing times of the early and mid 1970s. His clarion call of ‘SampoornaKranti’ inspired lakhs of youngsters, cutting across different ideologies to unite and resist authoritarianism and curtailing of civil liberties.
Narendra Modi was one of the countless youngsters inspired by Loknayak JP. As a youngster in Gujarat working closely with the RSS, Shri Modi saw the Navnirman Movement at very close quarters and took part in the anti-Emergency struggle.
His book, ‘Aapatkal Me Gujarat’ chronicles the anti-Emergency movement in Gujarat. Shri Modi has written at length about how lakhs of people put their own lives in danger only so that democracy and liberal democratic principles can exist without any impediments in India.
The book has references to preparations for JP’s visit to Gujarat and how, on the guidance of PujyaRavishankarMaharaj, those resisting the Emergency organised Pujas across Gujarat for the health of JP.
Shri Modi has often talked about Loknayak JP’s extraordinary life, how he devoted himself towards the freedom struggle, his penchant for India’s progress and his central role in igniting a mass movement that created history and preserved the very values for which our great freedom fighters fought for.
