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The movement named after one of the greatest political personalities of moder India, Jayaprakash Narayan, is widely viewed as a response to widespread corruption in public life and politics in India amidst rising unemployment and economic hardships faced by the common people. The students of Gujarat protested vigorously in January 1974 against the rise in prices of food-grains, cooking oil and other essential commodities. As the protests spread it was joined by the political parties too. The police administration replied with excessive force, indiscriminate arrests and used lathi charge. Later union government dissolved the assembly and announced now elections to the assembly.
Inspired by the efforts and success by Gujarat student's movement, similar agitation was initiated in Bihar by students in March 1974. Jayaprakash Narayan came out of his political retirement and provided the perfect leadership to these students. He gave a call for "Sampooran Kranti" (Total Revolution) against the immense corruption, to defend democracy from authoritarian conduct of of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
During the JP Movement, people set up parallel governments all over the state, didn't pay the taxes etc. The J.P. Movement attracted wide support from students, middle classes, traders, and a section of the intelligentsia.
The J.P. Movement also got the backing of nearly all the non-left political parties. However, by the end of 1974, The JP Movements fervor got down because of absence of organizational structures of the movement. Most of his student followers resumed their classes. The movement had failed to attract the rural and urban poor both in Gujarat and Bihar. Howevr, the leadership of JP gave credence to the agitation against the government of the day and when emergencey was imposed and even after that it became a key factor in galvanizing the opposition parties in forming a joint front culminating in the formation of the Janata Party