In the early 1970s, India grappled with economic turmoil following the deaths of Prime Ministers Nehru and Shastri, even as Indira Gandhi basked in glory from the 1971 war victory that birthed Bangladesh. Soaring inflation, food shortages, unemployment, and rampant corruption eroded public trust, sparking student unrest that began in Gujarat with the Nav Nirman movement in 1974, which forced the collapse of the Congress government there after a hostel fee hike escalated into widespread protests. Bihar, plagued by political instability with 11 governments in seven years, soon became the epicenter, as students vented fury over graft and joblessness, setting the stage for a national reckoning.

On March 18, 1974, the Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti—a coalition of groups like ABVP and Samajwadi Yuva Jana Sabha—besieged the Bihar Assembly in Patna, only for police firing to claim three student lives, with more fatalities in April fueling statewide chaos. Desperate for guidance, protesters turned to Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), a 71-year-old socialist icon who had retired from politics for social work, having once been Nehru's ally and a Quit India prisoner. Born in 1902 in Bihar's Sitab Diara, JP had studied in the US, embraced socialism, and later joined Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan movement for land reform, earning the title Lok Nayak before students, poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, and journalist Ramnath Goenka persuaded him to lead.

JP's pivotal moment came on June 5, 1974, at Patna's Gandhi Maidan, where he launched Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution), calling for eradicating corruption, purifying politics, and rebuilding India through grassroots democracy. He urged a one-year class boycott to awaken national consciousness, touring Bihar and beyond to mobilize diverse groups—socialists, landlords, Hindu nationalists, and disillusioned citizens. A November 1974 meeting with Indira Gandhi collapsed when he demanded assembly dissolutions, which she rejected, and police brutality at a Patna rally, including dragging the elderly JP by his hair, further inflamed public outrage and deepened the divide.

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By late 1974, polarization intensified: Indira's critics decried her authoritarianism, while JP's detractors accused him of subverting democracy via Jana Sangh ties. The crisis peaked in June 1975 when the Allahabad High Court invalidated Indira's 1971 election for malpractice on June 12, triggering massive protests, followed by her imposition of Emergency on June 25, suspending liberties, jailing opponents, and censoring media for 21 months. This draconian measure backfired spectacularly.

The JP Movement culminated in the 1977 elections, where the Janata Party—united under JP's moral authority—trounced Congress, shattering its dominance and ousting the once-invincible Indira Gandhi. Sparked in Bihar's streets, the revolution not only ended her rule but reshaped Indian democracy, proving student-led dissent could dismantle entrenched power and inspire enduring calls for transparency and accountability.

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