Patna, Jun 6 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday took a trip down the memory lane, recounting his days as a student activist when he bore witness to history being made by freedom fighter and socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan with his evocative call for “total revolution”.
He was responding to queries by journalists as to whether there were any plans to celebrate the “golden jubilee” of ‘Sampoorn Kranti Diwas’, due in a couple of years.
“That is a very good idea”, exclaimed the 70-year-old CM with perceptible excitement.
Kumar said he owes his political life to the ‘JP movement’ which began in 1974 and culminated in the defeat of Indira Gandhi-led Congress after the Emergency.
“Whatever political activists like us have learnt, we have learnt from JP. We have therefore been observing June 5 as ‘Sampoorn Kranti Diwas’. Of late, World Environment Day has also come to be celebrated on the same date but that is a relatively new development”.
He recalled with pride, “I was among those present at the Gandhi Maidan here when JP gave the call for sampoorn kranti (total revolution)”.
The call, given by Narayan against corruption and misrule, was followed by massive student uprising across the state, resulting in arrests of thousands of protesters.
“We were young. My studies were over but I was still active in the Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti,” Kumar reminisced.
Notably, the now-defunct samiti had served as a launching pad for many political bigwigs, including Kumar, his arch rival and predecessor in power Lalu Prasad, and his former deputy and trusted aide Sushil Kumar Modi. PTI PKD NAC RMS RMS
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