Bharat Ratna for JP

NEW DELHI, Dec 23 (PTI) — Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan was today awarded the country’s highest civilian award "Bharat Ratna" posthumously.

A two-line press communiqué issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said "the President has been pleased to award Bharat Ratna to late Jayaprakash Narayan."

Closely associated with the Congress-Socialist movement, Jayaprakash Narayan had led a movement against corruption in high places and Emergency excesses to bring about an end to the Congress rule at the Centre for the first time in 1977.

It was under his towering personality that different political parties came together under the banner of the Janata Party to provide the country its first non-Congress Government.

Jayaprakash Narayan will be the 35th person to get the country’s highest award.

A function will soon be organised at Rashtrapati Bhavan for the purpose.

JP had voluntarily retired from active politics towards the end of sixties and devoted himself to the Bhoodan movement launched by Acharya Vinoba Bhave until he was called upon to provide leadership to an anti-corruption crusade in Gujarat launched by the Nav Nirman Samiti.

Soon afterwards a similar movement gathered momentum in Bihar under his leadership and ultimately it led to the ouster of the Congress Government headed by Indira Gandhi.

Popularly known as ‘JP’, he made his mark in the country’s freedom struggle as a front-ranking leader of the 1942 movement.

He was closely associated with the Socialist school of thought within the Congress along with Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. After Independence he, however, parted ways with the Congress to join the Praja Socialist Party.

At one stage he was considered by many as a possible successor to Jawaharlal Nehru but he declined to get back to power politics and stayed with the Sarvodaya movement of Vinoba Bhave.