Jivatram Kripalani, also referred to with the prefix Acharya (Teacher: Hindi), was an Indian freedom fighter and political leader, who became a nationwide leader of the Janata Party revolt against the Indian Emergency. Jump to: navigation, search Hindi (हिन्दी) is an Indo-European language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... Freedom fighter is a relativistic local term for those engaged in rebellion against an established government that is held to be oppressive and illegitimate. ... The Janata Party was an Indian pizza party, formed in 1977 through the fusion of four major opposition parties, namely the Bharatiya Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Organisation), Bharatiya Jan Sangh and the Socialist Party. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Emergency was a period of Indian history when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency and effectively ruled by decree for nineteen months in 1975-1977. ...

Early Life

Jivatram (also spelled Jiwatram) Bhagwandas Kripalani was born in current-day Gujarat in 1888. He was of Sindhi and Gujarati roots. He received college education, and was a learned and scholarly young man when he became a member of the Indian National Congress. He was a school teacher when he soon became a disciple of rising nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi, and adopted his teachings and leadership. Jump to: navigation, search Gujarat (ગુજરાત in Gujarati) is the most industrialized state in India after Maharashtra and is located in western India, bordered by Pakistan to the northwest and Rajasthan to the north. ... Sindhi refers to an ethnic group of people originating in Sindh which is part of present day Pakistan. ... Gujarati can mean two distinct things: The Gujarati language is a language spoken in India and Pakistan, mostly in and around the Gujarat state. ... Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party, abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. ... Jump to: navigation, search Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869–January 30, 1948) (Devanagari : मोहनदास करमचन्द गांधी, Gujarati મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી) was a national icon who led the struggle for Indias independence from British colonial rule, empowered by tens of millions of common Indians. ...

Kripalani was involved in the Non Cooperation Movement of the early 1920s, and worked in Gandhi's ashrams in Gujarat and Maharashtra on tasks of social reform and education, and later left for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in northern India to teach and organize new ashrams. He also courted arrest on numerous occassions in the national struggles and smaller occasions of organizing protests and publishing what the British considered seditious materials. Maharashtra (महाराष्ट्र) is Indias third largest state in terms of area and second largest in terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. ... Jump to: navigation, search Bihar ( बिहार in Devanagri) is a state of the Indian union situated in the eastern part of the country. ... Jump to: navigation, search Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش), also popularly known by its acronym UP, is the fifth largest and the most populous state in India. ...

Congress Leader

With the support of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Gandhi, Kripalani joined the All India Congress Committee and became its General Secretary in 1928-29, an important position. He would hold the position for many years. He was popular with nationalists and the common people in northern as well as western India. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was Deputy Prime Minister of India till his death in 1950 Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (October 31, 1875–December 15, 1950), popularly referred to as Sardar Patel (Sardar stands for Chief or Leader), was an Indian statesman, core leader of the Indian Independence Movement and of the Indian... The All India Congress Committee or AICC is the central decision-making assembly of the Congress Party. ...

Kripalani drew close to Patel, and was prominently involved over a decade in top Congress party affairs, and in the organization of the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Quit India Movement. Kripalani served in the interim Government of India (1946-1947) was also the earliest supporters of Patel and Nehru over the Partition of India, and served in the Constituent Assembly of India. The Quit India Movement was a call for immediate independence for India issued by MK Gandhi on August 8, 1942. ... Jump to: navigation, search The partition of India was the process by which British dependencies and treaty states in the Indian subcontinent were granted independence in the 1940s. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to write the Constitution of India, and served as its first Parliament as an independent nation. ...

Controversy and Exit

In 1946, when the Congress Working Committee met to elect its new President, who would also become the head of the first all-Indian government, the contest was between Sardar Patel, the choice of 15 provincial Congress organizations, and Jivatram Kripalani, the choice of one. But Jawaharlal Nehru was recommended by the Working Committee at the last moment. Before Gandhi pressured Patel to drop his candidacy in favor of Nehru, Kripalani withdrew his name and backed Nehru. Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू, Javāharlāl Nehrū) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964), also called Pandit (Teacher) Nehru, was the leader of the socialist wing of the Indian National Congress during and after Indias struggle for independence from the British Empire. ...

This inexplicable turn after two decades of partnership with Patel denied Kripalani close access to Nehru and Patel, who would head up the new Government of free India in 1947. Kripalani became the Congress President in 1947, but was embittered by a lack of influence and involvement in important government affairs and national issues. Patel's opposition to Kripalani's candidacy against Purushottam Das Tandon in the 1950 Congress election denied him votes from Gujarat, the state of his birth and early work but also where Patel's leadership was undisputed. Jump to: navigation, search Purushottam Das Tandon (August 1, 1882 – July 1, 1962), was a freedom fighter, social reformer and national political leader of India. ...

After Patel's death in 1950 and Nehru's increasing popularity in the 1950s, Kripalani left the Congress.

Emergency

Kripalani remained a critic of Prime Minister Nehru's policies and administration, while working for social causes for the common people of India. He was now respectfully addressed as Acharya Jivatram Kripalani by his admirers and supporters, but did not attempt to resuscitate his political career.

But in 1974, Kripalani joined Jaya Prakash Narayan in organizing major student and union strikes and protests nationwide against the rule of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter. Kripalani and Narayan felt that Gandhi's rule had become dictatorial and anti-democratic, and her conviction on charges of using government machinery for her election campaign galvanized her political opposition and public disenchantment against her policies. Both Kripalani and Narayan were arrested during the Indian Emergency (1975-1977), when Gandhi suspended political activities and elections under the Emergency clause in the Constitution of India. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Jayaprakash Narayan. ... Jump to: navigation, search Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (इन्दिरा प्रियदर्शिनी गान्धी) (November 19, 1917 – October 31, 1984) was Prime Minister of India from January 19, 1966 to March 24, 1977, and from January 14, 1980 until her assassination in 1984. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Emergency was a period of Indian history when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency and effectively ruled by decree for nineteen months in 1975-1977. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

When Gandhi released all political prisoners and called fresh elections in 1977, Kripalani helped Narayan organize the coalition of political parties opposed to Gandhi's Congress Party, called the Janata (People's) Party. Janata Party swept the elections and Morarji Desai became India's new Prime Minister, but Kripalani receeded to the background due to ill health and old age. He died on March 19, 1982, at the age of 94. The Janata Party was an Indian pizza party, formed in 1977 through the fusion of four major opposition parties, namely the Bharatiya Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Organisation), Bharatiya Jan Sangh and the Socialist Party. ... Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (February 29, 1896 – April 10, 1995) was an Indian politician and the first non-Congress Party Prime Minister of India. ...

In the 1982 film Gandhi by Richard Attenborough, J.B. Kripalani was played by Indian actor Anang Desai. Jump to: navigation, search Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, KBE, CBE (born on August 29, 1923 in Cambridge, England) is a prolific British actor, director and film producer. ...