There has been a buzz about Patna's historic Gandhi Maidan lately, where a grand political conclave is going to be held later this month. The event being convened by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar is being touted as the first official show of Opposition unity in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Nitish might have addressed many meetings in Patna during his political career spanning over 47 years so far, the Opposition's upcoming meet could still be a different affair. This is because Nitish, for the first time, has got an opportunity to play a pivotal role in rallying the Opposition parties together on the national plane. He may even go on to emerge as their key fulcrum against the ruling Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2024 polls. Nitish had also taken an initiative for Opposition unity after his party's triumph, as part of the then Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) with the RJD and Congress, in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, but he could not succeed due to his allies' lukewarm response. But that was then. This time Nitish looks in control. Even though he has officially not been given any coordinating post, he is being credited with bringing parties like the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to a common platform with the Congress despite their tensions and rivalries. Nitish has also reached out to a slew of other Opposition leaders, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand CM and JMM leader Hemant Soren, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, among others. Several other top Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu CM and DMK chief M K Stalin are also expected to attend the Patna meet. Patna back in focus amid JP invocation The idea of Patna as the venue for the Opposition's first joint meeting was mooted by Mamata during a meeting with Nitish in Kolkata in April. Mamata invoked the grand Opposition unity bid made by the socialist icon and leading light of 1974 Bihar Movement, Jayaprakash Narayan or JP. She referred to JP's efforts in bringing together the parties of all shades under the Janata Party's umbrella amid the Emergency ahead of the 1977 general elections. JP led a united Opposition that succeeded in dethroning the then Prime Minister and Congress leader Indira Gandhi. Swinging into action, Nitish, fuelled by his own national ambition, started working on the proposal of Patna hosting the first Opposition conclave for chalking out their roadmap for the 2024 polls. The June symbolism cannot be ignored too. It was on June 5, 1974, that JP had addressed the historic meet in his "oust Indira" campaign at Patna's Gandhi Maidan. A frail JP had sat on chair to address the public. Several former journalists and politicians recalled that Gandhi Maidan, which has capacity to accomodate 10 lakh people, was then virtually packed. Veteran socialist leader Umesh Prasad Singh, a close aide of Rammanohar Lohia, said: "It was both men and women who had walked down to the venue to listen to JP. It was like a re-run of similar gathering at Gandhi Maidan during 1942 Movement in which JP had become a national hero after the Hazaribagh jailbreak. Patna's two best political shows were credited to JP." On 5 June, 1974, the legendary lines written by Hindi litterateur Ramdhari Singh Dinkar in Samdheni after JP's 1942 feat was repeated again. "Nakhat ama ke bujhte hain, saara aakash tumhara hai. (Stars of the night fade out, the entire sky is yours)" had rent the air during that June 5 event. It was also on this day that Lalu Prasad, who was then a Patna University student leader, had used the sobriquet of "Lok Nayak (leader of people)" for JP, which has now become his legendary prefix. The 1974 Bihar Movement could not have led to a national movement if JP had not steered it. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi recalled: "After the initial violence, we looked up to JP to lead the movement. He had agreed after a great deal of persuasion and on the condition that there would be no violence. JP took the lead despite his failing health but that was the mark of a great leader." JP's pitch from Patna had an impact on New Delhi. Stung by JP's call for “Total Revolution”, PM Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency on 25 June, 1975. What followed was the beginning of the era of coalition politics at the national level. Rising against the Emergency, JP brought together socialists, Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Bhartiya Lok Dal, Congress for Democracy, and other parties to form the Janata Party. The JP-inspired Janata Party formed the first anti-Congress government at the Centre under Morarji Desai in 1977. Observers say that even though there could be no comparison between the JP's 1977 exercise and Nitish's 2023 bid, it could still be “great political symbolism to play up”. There is also an irony here: While JP's mission was to bring together the Opposition against the Congress, Nitish has been trying to forge the Congress-led Opposition to take on the formidable BJP now. In 1977, two young disciples of JP, Lalu and Nitish, had been chanting anti-Congress slogans. But at the upcoming Patna rally, it is Congress that is expected to amplify the voice of the Opposition for the 2024 grand battle. 2017: Grand Alliance show It has been six years now since Patna last hosted a major political meet. It was in 2017 that Gandhi Maidan had last witnessed a political event of some national significance. Following the RJD-led Grand Alliance's call for Opposition unity, barely a month after Nitish had returned to the NDA, the rally was held, which was attended by Lalu, Mamata and veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav. The event however did not have any political resonance at the national level and passed off just as an RJD show without any clear agenda or message. 2013: Modi's 'Hunkaar' rally On 27 October, 2013, then Gujarat CM and NDA's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, addressed a massive gathering at Gandhi Maidan. The BJP had been trying to build up an atmosphere to boost Modi's bid to run for the Prime Minister. During his speech, Modi was in his element, narrating stories about CM Nitish – who had then walked out of the NDA over Modi's elevation to the PM candidate – and how the latter had violated all norms of hospitality in 2010 by cancelling a dinner for the BJP leaders following their party's national conclave in Patna. As Modi had been regaling the crowd, bomb blasts struck various corners of the ground. It was initially taken as the bursting of fire-crackers, but by the time Modi wound up his speech it was understood to be serial blasts, in which six people were killed. Just before Modi's rally, Nitish had delivered an impassioned speech at Rajgir, calling the former a "Hitler". "Hunkaar se ahankar tapakta hai (clarion call reeks of arrogance)," he said, deriding the BJP's “Hunkaar” rally. Even though Modi was then getting huge crowds at most of his public meetings, his Hunkaar rally set the tone for his PM bid. In the ensuing 2014 Lok Sabhga polls, the BJP, even without Nitish, bagged 31 of Bihar's 40 parliamentary seats. 1990s-2005: Lalu shows Patna had hosted a big rally in 2003, which the RJD chief called "raila" instead of rally. Lalu gave a clarion call to fellow Yadavs to come in large numbers by calling it "lathi mein tel pilawan rally". His previous rallies at Gandhi Maidan during his stint as CM from 1990 to 1997 were more about his consolidation of the RJD's social support base. Even though the BJP stalwarts, such as ex-PM Atal Behari Vajpayee and ex-Deputy PM L K Advani, held some major rallies in the famous ground during 1996-2004, it was mainly Lalu shows that dominated Patna's political landscape during that period. 1988-1989: V P Singh turns to Patna The then Jan Morcha leader VP Singh, who had emerged as a challenger to PM Rajiv Gandhi by raking up the Bofors scam against his regime, had started gaining political traction. He visited Patna thrice between 1988 and 1989. Though he did not choose Gandhi Maidan to address any big crowd, he got a significant audience at Hartali Mod of the city's Bailey Road. V P Singh had also invoked the 1974 JP Movement, stressing on the need to replicate the 1977 campaign. His rival Chandrashekhar had also visited Patna several times during the period. Chandrashekhar's Patna connection went back to the Emergency and Janata Party days. 1965: Lohia's anti-Congress campaign Three renowned socialists – Acharya Narendra Dev, Jayaprakash Narayan and Rammanohar Lohia – had been associated with Patna since 1934 when they had formed the Congress Socialist Party (a radical wing under the Indian National Congress) at Anjuman Islamia Hall of Patna. While JP had his Patna moments of glory in 1942 and 1974-1977, Lohia had chosen to test his anti-Congressism call from Patna in 1965 after effecting the merger of the Socialist Party and the Praja Socialist Party into the Sanyukt Socialist Party. The year 1965 saw a series of protests at Patna against inflation and corruption under the Congress rule. In Bihar, then Congress CM K B Sahay had been getting immensely unpopular after basking in the glory of abolishing zamindari system earlier. Umesh Prasad Singh said: "Patna became the nerve centre of anti-Congress protests. We vandalised statue of Lord Hardinge (ex-Governor General of India) at Hardinge Park. Police lathi-charged the protesters in which several senior socialist leaders like Karpoori Thakur and Ramanand Tiwari and Communist leader Chandrashekhar Singh were injured. On that day, Dr Lohia addressed public at Gandhi Maidan in the evening." Lohia's campaign against the grand old party continued till he succeeded in getting the Congress governments dislodged in nine states in 1967. Nitish often recalled Lohia's address at Gandhi Maidan in early 1967. As a student, Nitish had listened to Lohia from the sidelines of Gandhi Maidan, barely knowing perhaps that he would also address its gatherings later after taking his place at the centre-stage of Bihar politics.
