Jayaprakash Narayan - VSJ BEAWAR

Jayaprakash Narayan: Marxism, Democratic Socialism and Gandhism

Chapter 19: Jayaprakash Narayan: Marxism, Democratic Socialism and Gandhism

Identity and Legacy: Jayaprakash Narayan (1902–1979), popularly known as JP, was a posthumous follower of the Mahatma. He is regarded as the most creative innovator of Gandhian politics.
Critic and Dissenter: In a biographical sketch in 1963, JP was described as “India’s foremost dissenter, critic, intellectual nonconformist and fighter of lost causes”. He was called the “mirror to 20th century India”.
Ideological Evolution: His passionate quest for an ideological identity took him on a long voyage from Marxism through democratic socialism to Gandhian socialism.
Advocacy: He was the most sophisticated advocate of a nonpartisan democracy and a Gandhian constitution for independent India.
Influences: His ideological journey was shaped by the seminal influences of Marx and Marxists, M.N. Roy, Social Democrats, and Gandhi and Gandhians.

In his Marxian phase, JP put forth a program aimed at socio-economic restructuring, including:

Economic Goals: The goal of the progressive socialization of all means of production, distribution and exchange.
Trade and Finance: Instituting State monopoly of foreign trade.
Labor and Credit: Organization of cooperatives for production, distribution and credit in the unorganised sector of the economy.
Abolition of Exploitation: Elimination of princes, landlords and all other classes of exploiters without compensation.
Land Reform: Redistribution of land to peasants and encouragement and promotion of cooperative farming by the state.
Welfare and Distribution: Recognition of the right to work or maintenance by the state, and the liquidation of debts of peasants and workers. Distribution of economic goods based on the principle of ‘to everyone according to his need and from everyone according to his capacity’.
Political Structure: Adult franchise on functional basis.
Social Equality: No recognition of any distinction based on caste and community and no discrimination between sexes. The state was to neither support nor discriminate against any religion.

In the Draft Resolution for the Ramgarh Congress session, JP focused on democratic principles:

Guarantee of full individual and civil liberty and religious cultural freedom.
Abolition of all distinction based on birth and privileges.
Guarantees of equal rights to all citizens.
The political and economic organization of the state was to be based on democratic principles.

In this article, JP refined his vision, emphasizing decentralization and varied ownership structures:

Farming: Cooperative farms run by village panchayats. The subsequent collective stage was to be achieved through “persuasion and minimum force,” not whole-sale repression.
Industry Ownership: He advocated for a mixed system:
- Large-scale industries owned and managed by the Federal or Provincial Governments.
- Small-scale industries organized under producers’ cooperatives.
- Development of municipal or community ownership.
State Monopoly Avoided: He advocated for cooperative and community-owned industries to “prevent the state from acquiring the sole monopoly in industry and employment”.
Worker Participation: Trade unions would have an “appropriate voice in the management” of large industries “from the lowest to the highest levels”.
State Role: The role of the state was to be limited and democratised.

Consistency: A comparative study reveals no fundamental difference between his Marxian and Democratic Socialist phases; rather, there was a persistent consistency in his world outlook and methods of reform. Key consistent issues included the abolition of the Zamindari system, land reform, cooperative farming, and nationalization of industries.
Opposition to Totalitarianism: He consistently opposed the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ and the “socialist” Russian model.
Democracy Essential for Socialism: He concluded that if social change is possible through democratic means, resorting to violence would be counter-revolutionary. Furthermore, “socialism could not exist, nor be created, in the absence of democratic freedoms”.
Critique of Party Rule: He opposed party rule, observing how it eventually becomes the rule of a caucus or coterie, reducing democracy to the mere casting of votes.

Embrace of Gandhism: JP’s political trajectory eventually led him to Gandhian thought, viewing the latter as a necessary correction to the flaws of democratic socialism and Marxism.
Third World Democracy: He expressed sympathy for efforts by Third World leaders to experiment with new concepts of democracy rooted in indigenous traditions and contemporary realities.
Total Revolution (Sampurna Kranti): JP’s “Total Revolution” had a moral dimension that placed it far above the power-crazed revolutions of the 20th century. The moral dimension made him aware of the “innermost laws of our own being”.
Political Impact: JP supported and fostered the Janata Party’s spectacular electoral landslide in the 1977 elections. Although the Janata Party did not survive long, his ideological legacy remains durable and powerful.