Emergency chronicles: The party Chandra Shekhar brought to power, sent him to jail | The Indian Express

Emergency chronicles: The party Chandra Shekhar brought to power, sent him to jail | The Indian Express

Written by Harivansh, Ravi Dutt Bajpai |Updated: June 25, 2019 9:25:51 am

Harivansh is Deputy Chairperson, Rajya Sabha.

Ravi Dutt Bajpai is pursuing doctoral research on civilisational exchanges between China and India at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

Emergency chronicles: The party Chandra Shekhar brought to power, sent him to jail

The party whom he had endeavoured to bring to power was sending him to jail, while the supporters of the parties whom he had laboured to defeat were raising slogans in his support.

Chandra Shekhar listened intently and then remarked that it might be JP’s last public address before Indira Gandhi took some drastic actions. (Illustration by C R Sasikumar)

On 25 June 1975, JP addressed a massive public rally at Ramlila Ground in New Delhi. Chandra Shekhar was not present at the rally; he was spending the evening with his friends B P Koirala and Shailaja Acharya. The three of them went to watch the famous Hindi movie Sholay in central Delhi’s Regal Cinema and then to a restaurant for dinner. As they were preparing to call it a day, Chandra Shekhar realised that he had no money with him. Shailaja Acharya lent him Rs 100. When Chandra Shekhar reached home, D N Sahay, a friend of Chandra Shekhar, who was staying with him in Delhi, narrated the main points of JP’s address. JP had exhorted the police and armed forces to not obey orders which they considered wrong and warned that a change in government would bring about the prosecution of errant officials.