Navnirman Andolan

Nav Nirman Movement
Protestors stopped and climbed AMTS buses in Ahmedabad during the movement.
Date	20 December 1973 (1973-12-20) - 16 March 1974 (1974-03-16)
Location	Gujarat, India
Caused by	Economic crisis and corruption in public life
Goals	Resignation of Chief Minister and dissolution of assembly
Methods	Protest march, street protest, riot, hunger strike, strike
Resulted in	Legislative assembly dissolved and fresh elections
Parties
Nav Nirman Yuvak Samiti Indian National Congress Congress (O), Jan Sangh
Lead figures
Non-centralized leadership Chimanbhai Patel Morarji Desai
Violence and action
Death(s)	At least 100 [1] [2]
Injuries	1000-3000 [1] [2]
Arrested	8000 [1] [2]

Navnirman Andolan (lit. 'the movement for constructive reforms') ^[3] was a socio-political movement in 1974 in Gujarat by students and middle-class people against economic crisis and corruption in public life. It was one of the successful agitations in the history of post-independence India that resulted in the dissolution of an elected government of the state. ^{[1] [2] [4]}

The movement focused on different issues during its duration. It had broadly three goals: the resignation of the Chief Minister; the dissolution of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly; and the social reconstruction.

Background

In 1972 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election, the Congress (R) had secured 140 out of 167 seats in the assembly. The internal politics of the party resulted in Chimanbhai Patel becoming the Chief Minister of Gujarat in July 1973 replacing Ghanshyam Oza. There were allegations of corruption against him. ^{[1] [3]} The urban middle class was facing economic crisis due to the high price of food. ^{[1] [2] [4]}

Protests

In mid-December 1973, at Morbi Engineering College, the students protested against the rise in food fees in mess and damaged furnitures of the department of mechanical engineering and the laboratory. Total 40 students were suspended and the college was closed indefinitely. ^[3] On 20 December 1973, the students of L. D. College of Engineering in Ahmedabad went on strike in protest against a 20% hike in hostel food fees. ^{[5] [6] [3]} The price rise was related to the withdrawal of the subsidized foodgrains. The same type of strike also organised on 3 January 1974 at Gujarat University resulted in clashes between the police and the students. On students, several rounds of teargas shells were launched and they were lathicharged. On that night, total 326 students were arrested. The students demanded the release and treatment of the arrested students and reinstitution of the subsidized foodgrains. The protesting students formed the committee and met the Chief Minister regarding their demands of the reduction in food fees and the police brutality. As the demands were not fulfilled, the students called for three-day bandh (general strike) of schools and colleges. ^{[3] [4]} An indefinite strike started on 7 January 1974 in the educational institutions. Their demands were related to food and education. ^[4]

On 10 January 1974, 14th August Shramjivi Samiti, a committee formed from the 62 employee unions of private sectors and government offices, organised general strike against the inflation and corruption. ^[3] The strike became violent in Ahmedabad and Vadodara for two days. ^[4] Middle-class people and some factory workers also joined the protests in Ahmedabad; they also attacked some ration shops. ^[1] The protests were supported by several organisations such as Gujarat University Area Teachers' Association. ^[3] By mid-January 1974, students, lawyers and professors organised and formed a lead committee, later known as the Nav Nirman Yuvak Samiti, to voice their grievances and guide the protests. ^{[1] [4] [3]} Similar independent Nav Nirman Samitis were formed in several parts of Gujarat. ^[3] A statewide strike was organised on 25 January 1974 and resulted in clashes between the police and the people in at least 33 towns. ^[1] The government imposed a curfew in 44 towns and the agitation spread across Gujarat. ^[4] The army was called in to restore the peace in Ahmedabad on 28 January 1974. ^{[1] [7]} The political parties Congress (O), Swatantra Party and Jansangh had also organised their protest programmes. ^[3]

The protesters demanded Chimanbhai Patel's resignation. ^[4] The protests were continued for 63 days in 23 towns and cities of the state. ^[3] Due to the pressure of the protests, Indira Gandhi, then the Prime Minister of India, asked Chimanbhai Patel to resign. He resigned on 9 February 1974. ^{[2] [4] [8]} Consequently, the students sought the resignation of the members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) of ruling party as they believed that they are also responsible for the corruption. ^[3]

The governor suspended the legislative assembly and imposed the president's rule. Opposition parties demanded the dissolution of the state assembly. ^[1]

Congress had 140 of 167 MLAs in state assembly. The resignation of 15 Congress (O) MLAs on 16 February ^[1] triggered the next phase of the agitation. Three Jan Sangh MLAs also resigned. By March, students had persuaded 95 of 167 to resign. Morarji Desai, leader of Congress (O), went on an indefinite fast on 12 March in support of the demand. On 16 March, the assembly was dissolved, bringing an end to the agitation. ^{[1] [2] [4] [8]}

At least 100 died, 1,000 to 3,000 were injured, and 8,000 were arrested during the movement. ^{[1] [2]}

Consequences

Nav Nirman Yuvak Samiti demanded the fresh elections and opposition parties supported this. Morarji Desai again went on an indefinite fast on 6 April 1975 to support it. ^[1] Finally Indira Gandhi gave in; fresh elections were held on 10 June and the result was declared on 12 June 1975. The verdict on Indira Gandhi's electoral malpractice was declared the same day which later resulted in the Emergency. ^[1] Meanwhile, Chimanbhai Patel formed a new party named Kisan Mazdoor Lok Paksh and contested on his own. Congress, which won only 75 seats, lost the elections. Coalition of Congress (O), Jan Sangh, PSP and Lok Dal known as Janata Morcha won 88 seats and Babubhai J. Patel became Chief Minister. This government lasted nine months and the president's rule was imposed in March 1976. ^[2] Congress won elections in December 1976 and Madhav Singh Solanki became the new Chief Minister. ^{[1] [2]}

Aftermath

Jayaprakash Narayan visited Gujarat on 11 February 1974, after Chimanbhai Patel's resignation, though he was not involved in the movement. The Bihar Movement had already begun in Bihar. It inspired him to lead it and turn it into a total revolution movement, which resulted in the Emergency. ^{[1] [4]} Later Janata Morcha became precursor of the Janata Party, which formed the first non-Congress government winning the general election against Indira Gandhi in 1977, and Morarji Desai became prime minister. ^{[2] [9] [10]}

Congress formed a new caste-based election combination known as KHAM (Kshtriya-Harijan-Adivasi-Muslim) to elevate them in politics. The upper caste sensed it as the end of their political importance and reacted strongly against the imposition of Reservations in 1981. ^[5] This ultimately provoked the anti-Mandal riots in 1985, which helped the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat. ^[11]

Chimanbhai Patel became chief minister again with BJP support in 1990. ^[1]

The agitation helped local leaders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its student organization ABVP to establish themselves in politics. Narendra Modi who later served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014, and was subsequently elected as the Prime Minister of India in 2014, was one of them. ^[1]

Significance

The Navnirman movement reflected the anger of middle-class people and students at the prevalent economic crisis and corruption in government. It also showed the people's power to change the government by forcing it to resign by protesting. ^{[1] [8]}

See also

• Bihar movement
• Jayaprakash Narayan
• The Emergency (India)

References

1. Ananth, V. Krishna (2011). India Since Independence: Making Sense of Indian Politics. Pearson Education India. p. 117. ISBN   978-81-317-3465-0.
2. Dhar, P. N. (2000). Excerpted from 'Indira Gandhi, the "emergency", and Indian democracy' published in Business Standard. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780195648997 . Retrieved 23 November 2012.
3. Bhagat-Ganguly, Varsha (2014). "Revisiting the Nav Nirman Andolan of Gujarat". Sociological Bulletin. 63 (1): 95–112. ISSN   0038-0229.
4. Shah, Ghanshyam (20 December 2007). "Pulse of the people". India Today. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
5. jain, Arun Kumar (1978). Political Science. FK Publication. p. 114. ISBN   9788189611866.
6. "नवनिर्माणांच्या शिल्पकार" [Architect of Navnirman Movement]. Loksatta (in Marathi). 11 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
7. "1974: India inspired by Gujarat uprising". The Times of India. 18 February 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
8. Bhagat-Ganguly, Varsha (2014). "Revisiting the Nav Nirman Andolan of Gujarat". Sociological Bulletin. 63 (1): 95–112. doi:10.1177/0038022920140106. S2CID   185751051.
9. Katherine Frank (2002). Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp.  371. ISBN   978-0-395-73097-3.
10. "The Rise of Indira Gandhi". Library of Congress Country Studies. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
11. Sanghavi, Nagindas (15 October 2010). Mehta, Nalin; Mehta, Mona G. (eds.). "From Navnirman to the anti-Mandal riots: the political trajectory of Gujarat (1974–1985)" [Gujarat Beyond Gandhi: Identity, Conflict and Society]. South Asian History and Culture. Issue 4. 1 (4): 480–493. doi:10.1080/19472498.2010.507021. S2CID   144157465.

Further reading

• Krishna, Ananth V. (1 September 2011). India Since Independence: Making Sense of Indian Politics. Pearson Education India. p. 117. ISBN   9788131734650.
• Sheth, Pravin N. (1977). Nav Nirman & political change in India: from Gujarat 1974 to New Delhi 1977. Vora.