Fabulous Coincidence! 47 Years Back Indira Kickstarted Hindi Diwas And 47 Years Back JP Movement Succeeded, Politics Changed Ushering In New And Edging The Old Out
By D N Singh
A good gap of about 47 years when the nation witnessed one of its most intensive political agitations when Jay Prakash Narayan led it to the toppling of a very deep-rooted government.
It was 47 years back, Indira Gandhi had chaired the World Hindi Diwas in Nagpur on this day (Jan10.1975) as a prelude to honour the great language of world over.
In India many leaders volunteered to be behind the bars and many were forced in to be there.
However, the JP movement spun out a few leaders who became successful leaders of the country from their origins as student leaders.
But in politics change is part of the cycle or call it a dynamic process. Known as good student leaders and activists such as Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sushil Kumar Modi and Nand Kishore Yadav or Prem Kumar who later rose to national heights now seem to in a kind hibernation.
Ravi Shankar, also an erstwhile minister in the union ministry under Atal Behari Vajpayee and subsequently in the Narendra Modi cabinet is back at the roots.
Even a successful mediator Ravi Shankar had once proved his mettle as a man to strike a thaw between Jayalalita and Vajpayee government and had established his credentials as a good trouble shooter and a capable minister as well.
Now, not in demand somehow Prasad as a loyal BJP man has not given up. “The former IT minister still visits the remote areas concentrating his constituency like Bhaktirapur, Fatuah and Begumganj and so on, once in a while dropping his gauntlet to have a cup of tea with the slum dwellers in Patna” said Law Kumar Mishra, a senior journalist and political analyst.
A deputy chief minister since 2005, Sushil Kumar Modi does not appear active in todays’ politics. He was not even drafted for any campaign in UP. Now-a-days, Modi prefers chats with party colleagues more.
That’s the strange dynamics of politics where one negotiates through several undulations. But the show must go on.
