Press Releases Archive

Leadership failure to blame for current crises: Dr.JP

Even minor issues get blown into major crises because of leadership failures, said Lok Satta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan here today.

Addressing a gathering after unveiling the national flag at the party headquarters to mark Hyderabad Liberation Day, Dr. JP recalled that leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel could integrate 562 provinces in the Indian Union peacefully within15 months. In contrast, today’s leadership has failed to address problems between people speaking the same language. Leaders in the post-Independence era facilitated linguistic reorganization of States even as countries like Canada, Belgium and Sri Lanka were wracked by conflicts among people speaking different languages.

Dr. JP pointed out that unlike leaders of the bygone era who worked for nation building and promoting harmony, today’s leaders are engaged in promoting their families and reaping electoral advantage by inciting animosities among people. A Lal Bahadur Shastri could persuade well-to-do people to fast for a day in a week and go to the succor of the hungry when the country faced a food crisis. In contrast, there is no leader today who can persuade people to shed their infatuation with gold at a time the country faced a current account deficit of 80 billion US dollars. Today’s leaders do not bother about addressing the current account deficit and improving the economy by facilitating export of food grains and promoting pulses and oil seeds production.

Dr. JP said that ritualistic celebration of days like August 15 and September 17 without imbibing the spirit of service, national outlook and dedication of leaders like Sardar Patel, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru and Moulana Azad will not help resolve today’s problems. The country today needs leaders who can harmonize conflicting interests, resolve problems amicably, promote economic development and inspire people to make sacrifices for a better future for their children.

Dr. JP hoped that celebration of September 17 as Hyderabad Liberation Day will inspire crisis-ridden Telugu speaking people to resolve their problems amicably.

Lok Satta Party leaders D. V. V. S. Varma, Bandaru Ramamohan Rao, Mrs. N. Saroja Devi, Eeda Chennayya, Mrs. K. Geeta Murthy, Dosapati Ramu were among those who took part in the event.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013 - 17:08

Dr. JP wants a Central committee to go into crisis in AP

Lok Satta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today demanded that a Joint Parliamentary Committee or Government committee be appointed to find an amicable solution to the crisis plaguing Andhra Pradesh in the wake of the Delhi decision to bifurcate the State.

Addressing a media conference, Dr. JP said that the Center cannot remain a mute spectator when hatred and ill will among people are dividing the nation.

He also demanded that the State Assembly be convened immediately so that elected people’s representatives can discuss the issue in a cool and collected manner and strive to work out a comprehensive and amicable solution.

Dr. JP appealed to all creative people like writers, actors and directors to use their creativity to promote unity and amity among Telugu speaking people by sparing their time and forgoing income, if necessary. Whether the State remains intact or is divided, unity among Telugu people should not suffer, he added.

Dr. JP explained that he had postponed his Telugu Tejam mission at Anantapur on September 15 as he did not want to aggravate differences among people. He is committed to promoting an amicable debate among people and not adding fuel to the fire. He will resume his tour depending on circumstances.

Dr. JP said that a true leader in a democracy should try to harmonize conflicting interests and not fan differences and fuel animosities. Unfortunately, Andhra Pradesh has become a lab for promoting animosities among people for narrow political interests. The situation has become so vitiated that the right to free expression is being attacked. The very leaders who garland portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and claim to hail from the land of the Buddha and Mahaveera are inciting hatred and violence.

Dr. JP appealed to political leaders as also youth, farmers and women to observe restraint and try to understand the others’ point of view.

Referring to the Government of India decision to impose a duty of 2.5 percent on crude palm oil and raise the duty on refined palm oil from 7.5 percent to 10 percent, Dr. JP said it would benefit mostly the industry and not the farmer. He pointed that the Lok Satta Party has for long demanded that duties be levied on imports of edible oils and pulses and the resultant revenue utilized for encouraging farmers to raise oilseeds and pulses. He demanded a 20 percent import duty on edible oils and pulses. The country during 2012-13 spent more than 14 billion US dollars equivalent to about Rs.90000 crore on import of edible oils and pulses. If farmers are encouraged, the country will save precious foreign exchange and people provided genuine food security.

State Lok Satta Party President Katari Srinivasa Rao pointed out that within minutes of Dr. JP launching his Telugu Tejam tour, some TV channels started spewing venom against him. It was unwarranted considering that the Lok Satta has taken a consistent stand on the Telangana issue unlike other political parties.

Lok Satta Party Vice President D. V. V. S. Varma and General Secretary Ravi Maruth took part in the media conference.

Monday, September 16, 2013 - 18:56

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