Akhilesh deserve claim to JP legacy!

Bhubaneswar: (Ajoy Kumar Misra) The recent clash of supporters of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav with BJP workers over garlanding the statue of veteran leader Bharat Ratna Jayprakash Narayan has thrown up many question as to whether the SP leader can claim his rights to the legacy of Jayprakash Narayan.
Jayprakash had endeared himself to the people for leading the movement against assassinated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Emergency of 1975.
Akhilesh two days ago tried to garland the statue of JP in Lucknow and he was barred by police following clash between his party workers with BJP supporters and the police on the birth anniversary of JP. The BJP said Akhilesh does not have any claim to do so as he is in alliance with the Congress which imposed the emergency following which hundreds of leaders including JP were jailed.
“How can Akhilesh claim the legacy as he is in alliance with that party which imposed the draconian law,” they said.
It is not proper for anyone to claim the legacy of a tall leader while being in alliance with the tormentor. The Emergency of 1975 had not only brought JP from political hibernation but also resulted in merger of all political entities in Janata Party at the call of JP.
Unlike father Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh has chosen to be in alliance with the Congress. The senior yadav all through his life indulged in politics to keep the Congress at bay. He was a true follower of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia who was a political associate of Jayprakash Narayan. Lohia had persuaded JP to join active politics but the latter had refused to do so till 1975 Emergency era.
The Congress, during its rule, had never conferred ‘Bharat Ratna’ on JP. But it was BJP during Atal Behari Vajpayee government which conferred the honour on JP. BJP’s previous avtaar Jansangh had merged with the Janata Party wholeheartedly also.
The most interesting aspect is that Indira Gandhi had refused to condole the death of JP in the Parliament on the ground that he was never a member of any of the House—Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. But Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had moved a condolence in the Parliament when Edwina Mountbatten—wife of the first viceroy Lord Mountbatten—passed away though she was never a member of any of the two Houses.
Under these circumstances, it is natural that the claim of Akhilesh is unlikely to get approval of those who stood by JP and against the Congress in politics.