Q33
1 markSection D

Identify the state related to Congress leader Jag Jeevan Ram, and write its correct name along with the concerned alphabet as marked on the map.

OR

(For Visually Impaired Candidates, in lieu of question number 26) Name the leader who announced a nationwide Satyagraha at Ram Lila Maidan before the declaration of National Emergency.

The Crisis of Democratic Order
Emergency Period — Congress Leaders & States (Map Skill)
Official Answer

State: Bihar (Congress leader Jagjivan Ram) — OR alternative: Jayaprakash Narayan (JP).


Main part

  • Jagjivan Ram, a senior Congress leader and long-time Union Cabinet minister, represented the Sasaram constituency in Bihar.
  • He quit the Congress on 2 February 1977, forming the Congress for Democracy, which merged into the Janata Party alliance that defeated Congress in the 1977 Lok Sabha elections.
  • On the given outline map, mark and name the state as Bihar, writing the alphabet exactly as shown against it on the printed map.

OR — Visually Impaired Candidates

  • The leader is Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), who addressed a mass rally at Ramlila Maidan, Delhi, on 25 June 1975, calling for a nationwide Satyagraha ('Total Revolution') against the government, hours before the National Emergency was declared that night.
Jagjivan RamBiharSasaramJayaprakash NarayanRamlila MaidanTotal RevolutionNational Emergency1977 elections

Marking Scheme

  • 11 mark: for correctly naming the state as Bihar with the matching alphabet as per the printed map (OR, for visually impaired candidates, correctly naming Jayaprakash Narayan/JP as the leader).

Hint

Jagjivan Ram was Bihar's Congress MP from Sasaram; JP's Ramlila Maidan speech came just before the Emergency was declared.

Quick Oral Answer

Jagjivan Ram was the Congress leader from Bihar (Sasaram) who quit the party just before the 1977 elections; Jayaprakash Narayan is the leader who gave the Ramlila Maidan Satyagraha call just before the Emergency was declared.

Analysis & Explanation

This map-skill item from the 'Crisis of Democratic Order' chapter tests recall of key personalities and geography linked to the 1975-77 Emergency period.


Concept

  • Jagjivan Ram was a Dalit Congress stalwart, Union Defence Minister during the 1971 war and the Emergency, and MP from Sasaram, Bihar.
  • His resignation from Congress just weeks before the 1977 elections (forming Congress for Democracy) badly hurt the party and helped the Janata alliance sweep the Hindi heartland.
  • Jayaprakash Narayan, by contrast, led the extra-parliamentary JP Movement/Total Revolution centred on Bihar, and his 25 June 1975 Ramlila Maidan call for Satyagraha is cited as an immediate trigger for the Emergency, declared that same night.

Exam trap

  • Students often confuse Jagjivan Ram (a Congress insider who quit the party) with Jayaprakash Narayan (a non-Congress opposition leader) — the question tests this exact distinction between two Bihar-linked figures of 1975-77.
  • Without the printed map, the specific alphabet (A/B/C/D) cannot be fixed from text alone; always cross-check the state's location and label directly on the paper's map.

Real-world relevance

  • This period reshaped Indian federal politics permanently, ending unbroken Congress rule at the Centre and setting the stage for the coalition-era outcomes of the very next map item (Q34) and the 1977 election result it asks about.

Common Mistakes

  1. 1Confusing Jagjivan Ram (Congress leader who quit in 1977) with Jayaprakash Narayan (opposition leader of the JP Movement) — both are linked to Bihar but represent different political camps.
  2. 2Guessing the map alphabet without carefully locating Bihar's actual position on the outline map.

Interesting Facts

Jagjivan Ram's resignation from Congress on 2 February 1977, just before the general elections, is considered one of the most damaging defections in the party's history.

Jayaprakash Narayan's Ramlila Maidan speech on 25 June 1975 called on security forces to disobey 'illegal' orders — cited by Indira Gandhi's government among its reasons for proclaiming the Emergency.

Jagjivan Ram briefly served as Deputy Prime Minister of India in the Janata Party government (1977-79) after the fall of the Congress.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which state is Congress leader Jagjivan Ram associated with?

Bihar — he represented the Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar and was a senior Union minister before quitting Congress in February 1977.

Who called for a nationwide Satyagraha at Ramlila Maidan before the Emergency was declared?

Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), on 25 June 1975, hours before the National Emergency was proclaimed on the intervening night of 25-26 June 1975.