The common legacy of Jayaprakash Narayan has failed to bridge the political divide — even for a moment — between Minister for External Affairs Yashwant Sinha and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav.On the occasion of the birth centenary celebrations of Lok Nayak, J P Vichar Manch — with Sinha as its patron — decided to bring out a voluminous book, Swaraj se Lok Nayak tak. In the press now, the book is expected to be released by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on September 25 at New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.Being its chief editor, Sinha invited several senior leaders and those who had been associated with JP’s movement in the seventies to pen their contributions. President A P J Abdul Kalam, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar, Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi and noted Gandhian Nanaji Deshmukh have written for it.Sinha told The Indian Express that three letters were sent to Laloo Prasad Yadav — the last on March 26 this year — but he didn’t respond. ‘‘All those who had been associated with JP’s movement were approached to contribute to the book,’’ he said. Laloo, however, says he didn’t receive any letter and Sinha was making a false claim. ‘‘This is a complete lie. He hasn’t written to me. And how is he related to the JP movement? Yashwant Sinha was a bureaucrat at that time. When you have no knowledge, how can you write?’’ he fumed.After all, Laloo was the president of the Patna University Students Union and a leading light of the Chhatra Sangharsh Vahini which spearheaded the JP movement in Bihar — so he is a direct inheritor of JP’s legacy. On the other hand, Sinha was a bureaucrat during this entire period, and though he was influenced by JP’s philosophy, he left the civil service a decade after the JP movement to join politics in 1984. Laloo, who can barely hide his antipathy towards Sinha, remarked: ‘‘When a vegetable is being cooked, the most common ingredient is tomato. Yashwant Sinha does the work of a tomato, he will join any faction that suits him.’’Laoo was not present at the unveiling of JP’s statue (gifted by JP Vichar Manch) by President Kalam in Parliament on July 3, 2002. ‘‘I will write a separate book on JP. I’m the reality of the movement,’’ he said.
