India, April 17 -- In the long arc of India's political journey, the socialist movement led by Ram Manohar Lohia and later galvanised by Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), stands apart. It was not merely an ideological current but a mass awakening rooted in social justice, democratic participation, and the dismantling of entrenched hierarchies. The JP movement of the 1970s, in particular, produced a remarkable generation of leaders including Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, George Fernandes, Sharad Yadav, among others who would go on to shape the politics of North India.

Yet, as the decades unfolded, the trajectories of many of these leaders diverged from the foundational ideals of that movement. The implementation of the Mandal Commission, whic...