Many people in politics today owe their initial days to those days of Emergency and the JP movement when "a new political generation was born", said Prime Minister Narendra Modi who paid rich tributes to Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan on his 113 birth anniversary.
The political generation born during the Emergency was fully dedicated to democratic values, inspired by JP, the prime minister said while speaking at Loktantra Prahari Abhinandan in Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.
"So many people in politics today owe their initial days to those days of Emergency and the JP movement. A new political generation was born," Modi added.
He said that "when we remember likes of Gandhi-ji, JP, Nanaji (Deshmukh), we always think about integrating the villages of India".
"JP Movement, Navnirman Movement, Emergency...they gave birth to a new kind of politics in the nation. So many people in politics today owe their initial days to those days of Emergency, JP Movement. A new political generation was born," Modi said.
Veteran BJP leader LK Advani, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal were also among those who spoke on the occasion.
"I want to congratulate the prime minister and the government for thinking about a programme like this... When India became free, focus was not only on freedom from colonialism but also on strengthening democratic framework," Advani said.
Praising Jayaprakash Narayan, Badal said, "JP was an institution, he was a light house and a role model."
Earlier in the day, the prime minister also met veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Union minister George Fernandes.
- With inputs from IANS
