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.