Sachchidanand was there when the historic JP movement of 1974 took its first tentative steps. He has seen its foot soldiers race ahead to rule, and ruin, Bihar. And the 65-year-old former firebrand socialist and personal secretary of Jaya Prakash Narayan is a sad man. ``It is said revolution eats up its own children,'' he says. ``Obviously enough, they have been eaten up, and those who still remain are not true to the ideals they supposedly fought for.'' This includes almost everyone who matters in Bihar politics. From RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and Samata leaders George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar to the BJP's Sushil Mody and the ultra-Leftist K.D. Yadav. They had all joined hands with JP to fight corruption and usher in a new brand of politics. Now, they are in different camps, with different ideologies and facing varied corruption charges.

Recently, Laloo violated another of JP movement's salient points. The man who headed the Chatra Sangharsha Samiti then andhad discarded the janeyu (sacred thread) at JP's call donned it in a temple in Arrah last week, ostensibly to shore up his chances with upper-caste support.

Sachchidanand remembers that JP had reposed his confidence in youths and students like Laloo and Fernandes expecting them to be the torch-bearers of his total revolution. Not only did they fail miserably to solve the problems facing the country then and now, Sachchidanand says, but they also ``misled'' JP into believing that the change brought about in Delhi was the ultimate aim of the movement.

He feels that very few among the youth leaders were committed to the ideals of total revolution and claims that JP knew this too. Sachchidanand points out that the Chhatra Sangharh Samiti disintegrated soon after the Janata Party victory in 1977. The leaders of the movement did not realise their historic role as well as task, the socialist leader laments, adding: ``They were not committed to the ideals for which JP stood for and fought for. As a result, theJanata Party disintegrated.'' These leaders, Sachchidanand adds, wanted only power, ``which they got and did not use to solve the burning problems of the people''. Worse, he says, ``they fought among themselves for power''.

But if Sachchidanand blames these leaders, he also blames JP for choosing them. ``JP failed to pick up the right persons to carry on his concept of total revolution,'' he says. ``He fought for democracy and change in the system. He succeeded in bringing democracy back on the rails, but could not effect any change in the system.'' A reason for this, he feels, is that the leaders JP chose did not understand the role they were expected to play once they had ``restored'' democracy.

Moving on to the situation in the country, Sachchidanand says: ``The politics of today is for power and power alone. The parties either in power or in the Opposition are not committed to any ideals. They simply shout slogans to influence the voters and mobilise their support.'' The unprincipled alliances that wesee these days reflect this ideological vacuum, according to him. Worse, he concludes, he sees no leader who can fill this space.