I have always been an ardent follower of Lok Satta Party for its ideologies about changing the way people think about politics. It aligned with my personal opinions and views about a corrupt free system where every citizen can avail the rights given to them by the Constitution of India.
I met Dr. Jaya Prakash Narayana as part of his visit in Washington DC on May 9, 2010. Initially I had my own inhibitions and doubts about JP, since I never met him personally and it was only through media and youtube I came across his speeches. With a preoccupied notion to check or rather test the integrity of him I had a good opportunity to spend time with JP.
I am not writing this to provide publicity for JP or party. I felt, as a citizen of India, to share some of my thoughts about him.
Energy: JP started his speech at 2 pm and went on till 4 pm uninterrupted and then answered questions till 5 pm. We met again for dinner and for straight 3.5 hours he was just answering wide variety of questions ranging from caste free India to MLA salaries to civic responsibility. I was way over impressed and surprised by his energy levels. I never noticed a stint of despair nor tiredness in him all through the event.
Why I respect him as a Leader: I strongly believe political parties are there to serve needs of people. We always blame politicians for being corrupt. But it’s us who make a normal person to be a Leader by electing him. I completely believe that other political parties in Andhra Pradesh have very able, hard working, genuine leaders. Dr. JP NEVER criticized unnecessarily neither any party nor any party leader. All the way he was mentioning the point of citizens participating in electoral reform and elect an able and visionary leader rather than elect a leader by obligation to caste or money power. This point definitely makes him so different from other leaders. Answering one of questions about people getting killed ruthlessly and no justice being done, JP expressed not to exaggerate some situations and we in India are not as bad as Rwanda. JP could have easily aligned with the question and made it look even worse for other listeners. Instead of that, he explained in practical reality things are not as worse as we describe. He just stuck to one point that ITS NOT THE POLITICIANS THAT NEED TO CHANGE, IT’S THE ATTITUDE OF PEOPLE TOWARDS POLITICS THAT SHOULD CHANGE” and everyone should constructively participate in “citizen centered issues”.
Dr.JP’s Knowledge about world affairs:
Dr. JP as part of his speech spoke about United States first vice president, German annexation during world war, Indian independence struggle and 4 movements (Khilafat movement, Quit India, Salt Satyagraha, Non Cooperation movement), Emergence of Religion in India, Watergate Scandal etc., He connected these wide variety of topics so brilliantly that I can say in a hall of 400 people no one even thought of leaving the discussion.
I personally think India needs leaders who can lead us in this era of globalization with in depth knowledge about past and vision about how we can use it for future.
Conclusion: With all my doubts about his personality and opinions cleared, I am way well impressed about his character and thought process. India needs leaders like Dr. Jaya Prakash Narayana.
Jai Hind
Suresh Matta
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