Janata Party - WikiHQ

The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jai Prakash Bandhu.

The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian National Congress (R). They included the conservative Indian National Congress (Organisation), the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the liberal to social-democratic Bharatiya Lok Dal (formed in 1974 by the merger of the conservative-liberal Swatantra Party, the conservative Bharatiya Kranti Dal, the Samyukta Socialist Party and the Utkal Congress) and the Socialist Party, as well as later defectors from the Indian National Congress.

Raj Narain, a Socialist, had filed a legal writ alleging electoral malpractice against Indira Gandhi in 1971. On 12 June 1975, Allahabad High Court found her guilty of using corrupt electoral practices in her 1971 election victory over Narain in the Rae Bareli constituency. She was barred from contesting any election for the next six years. Economic problems, corruption and the conviction of Gandhi led to widespread protests against the government, which responded by imposing a State of Emergency. The rationale was that of preserving national security. However, the government introduced press censorship, postponed elections and banned strikes and rallies. Opposition leaders such as Narain, J. B. Kripalani, Jayaprakash Narayan, Anantram Jaiswal, Chandra Shekhar, Biju Patnaik, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L. K. Advani, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Ramnandan Mishra and Morarji Desai were imprisoned, along with thousands of other political activists. When the Emergency was lifted and a new election called in 1977, opposition leaders joined to form the JP. In the 1977 general election, the party defeated the Congress (R) and JP leader Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress prime minister in independent modern India's history. Narain defeated Gandhi at Rae Bareli in that election. The new JP-led government reversed many Emergency-era decrees and opened official investigations into Emergency-era abuses. Although several major foreign policy and economic reforms were attempted, continuous in-fighting and ideological differences made the Janata government unable to effectively address national problems. In July 1979 Desai was forced to resign and was replaced by Charan Singh. Popular disenchantment with the political infighting and ineffective government led to the resurgence of Gandhi and her new Indian National Congress (I) party.

JP's success was short-lived and, in the 1980 general election, the Congress (I) was returned to power. JP's heterogeneous nature led to its fragmentation. The first major split occurred in July 1979 when Narain formed his own social-democratic Janata Party (Secular). Shortly after the 1980 election, Hindu nationalists regrouped in the Bharatiya Janata Party, meant as a successor to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. In 1980 the Janata Party (Secular) was merged into the Lokdal, which would finally merge into the larger Janata Dal, which led the government in 1989–1991 and later experienced a fragmentation similar to JP's. Direct or indirect spliter parties of the Janata Dal, some of which regional, have included the socialist Samata Party, the Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) or Janata Dal (Socialist), the Janata Dal (United), the Janata Dal (Secular), the socialist Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Biju Janata Dal and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.

National units

right|thumb|85px|[[Thakur Ji Pathak]]

Thakur Ji Pathak (January 1982–20 January 1985)

Before Thakur Ji Pathak was in Janata party.

History

Having led the Indian independence movement, the Indian National Congress became the most popular political party in independent India and won every election following national independence in 1947. However, the Indian National Congress bifurcated in 1969 over the issue of the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the daughter of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Supporters of Indira Gandhi claimed to be the real Congress party, adopting the name Indian National Congress (R) – where "R" stood for "Requisition." Congress politicians who opposed Indira identified themselves as the Indian National Congress (O) – where "O" stood for "Organisation" or "Old." For the 1971 election, the Congress (O), Samyukta Socialist Party and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh had formed a coalition called the "Grand Alliance" to oppose Indira Gandhi and the Congress (R), but failed to have an impact; Indira's Congress (R) won a large majority in the 1971 elections and her popularity increased significantly after India's victory in the war of 1971 against Pakistan.

Raj Narain, a leader of the Socialist Party (India), who had unsuccessfully contested election against Indira from the constituency of Rae Bareilly in 1971, lodged a case at the Allahabad High Court, alleging electoral malpractices and the use of government resources for her election campaign. On 12 June 1975 in State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain, the Allahabad High Court found Indira guilty and barred her from holding public office for six years. Opposition politicians immediately demanded her resignation and stepped up mass protests against the government. On 25 June, Narayan and Desai held a massive rally in Delhi, calling for a "Satyagraha" – a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience to force the government to resign. A state of emergency enabled the central government to issue executive decrees without requiring the consent of Parliament. Only the Communist Party of India supported the state of emergency. However, the emergency era had been widely unpopular. The most controversial issue was the 42nd amendment to the Constitution of India, which deprived citizens of direct access to the Supreme Court, except when violation of the fundamental rights resulted from Union law. The Parliament was given unrestrained power to amend any parts of the Constitution. The Supreme Court was given exclusive jurisdiction as regards determination of the constitutional validity of laws passed by the Union government. It restricted the power of the courts to issue stay orders or injunctions. Almost all parts of the Constitution saw changes through this amendment. The clampdown on civil liberties and allegations of widespread abuse of human rights by police had angered the public. Indira Gandhi was believed, by the public at large to be under the influence of a clique of politicians led by her youngest son, Sanjay Gandhi, who had become notorious for using his influence in the government and the Congress party for alleged corrupt activities. Sanjay Gandhi had masterminded the Union government's unpopular campaign of family planning, which had allegedly involved forcible sterilisation of young men by government officials.

As it became clear that Indira's Emergency rule had been widely unpopular, defections from the Congress (R) government increased. The most significant was that of Jagjivan Ram, who commanded great support amongst India's Dalit communities. A former Minister of Defence, Ram left the Congress (R) and along with his supporters formed the Congress for Democracy on 2 February 1977. Other co-founders included the former Chief Minister of Orissa Nandini Satpathy, former Union Minister of State for Finance K. R. Ganesh, former MP D. N. Tiwari and Bihar politician Raj Mangal Pandey.

Actions taken during Emergency significantly diminished support for the Congress (R) amongst its most loyal constituencies. The bulldozing of slums near the Jama Masjid was widely unpopular amongst India's Muslims, and the defection of Jagjivan Ram significantly diminished support for the Congress (R) amongst India's Dalits. BLD leader Charan Singh's peasant roots helped him raise considerable support in the rural parts of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India. The Shiromani Akali Dal, the party of the Sikhs of Punjab and regional political parties such as the Tamil Nadu-based Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam became important allies. The leaders of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Jana Sangh rallied India's middle-class merchants, traders and conservative Hindus. The Hindu nationalist RSS and trade unions aligned with Janata helped rally considerable voting blocs.

The 1977 election drew a turnout of 60% from an electorate of more than 320 million. On 23 March, it was announced that the Janata party had won a sweeping victory, securing 43.2% of the popular vote and 271 seats. With the support of the Akali Dal and the Congress for Democracy, it had amassed a two-thirds, or absolute majority of 345 seats. Although the Congress for Democracy won 28 seats, Ram's standing as a national Dalit leader and moving a significant share of the Dalit vote to the Janata party and its allies won him considerable influence. Immediately afterwards, the Janata party faced a serious challenge in choosing a leader to become India's new prime minister, where the rival bids of party leaders could divide the party and weaken its majority before it took power. Janata party chairman Morarji Desai, Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram enjoyed the support of a significant number of Janata MPs and the activists brought from their own political parties into the Janata organisation. Congress (O) veteran and Janata candidate Neelam Sanjiva Reddy won the presidential election to become the 6th President of India on 25 July 1977.

The results of its election defeat considerably weakened and diminished the Congress (R). Significant numbers of Congress (R) MPs and activists condemned Indira's leadership and left the party. As a result, MPs still loyal to Indira Gandhi renamed their party to Congress (I) – "I" standing for Indira. Although no longer an MP, Indira Gandhi continued as the president of Congress (I), which remained the largest opposition party.

thumb|250px|Indian prime minister Morarji Desai (1977–1979)

Janata rule

The first actions taken by the Desai government were to formally end the state of emergency and media censorship and repeal the controversial executive decrees issued during the Emergency. then Bihar Janata Party chief Satyendra Narayan Sinha to become the Bihar Chief Minister. The number of Janata members of the legislative assemblies (MLAs) of all the states increased from 386 to 1,246 seats. The government also called fresh elections in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where the Janata party won 13 seats to the Congress's 11, and the veteran Kashmiri politician Sheikh Abdullah returned to power after having been dismissed in 1953.

Foreign policy

Prime Minister Morarji Desai and the Minister of External Affairs Atal Bihari Vajpayee began significant changes in India's foreign policy, moving away from the course adopted by Indira's government. Both Pakistan and China had celebrated the ouster of Indira Gandhi, who had preserved a hardline stance against India's rival neighbors. In 1979, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the highest-ranking Indian official to visit Beijing, meeting China's leaders. The Desai government re-established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, which had been severed due to the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Both nations established regular dialogue to resolve long-standing territorial disputes, expand trade and enhance border security. The Desai government ended India's support for the guerrillas loyal to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, who had been assassinated in 1975 by military officers and replaced by a military regime that sought to distance itself from India.

India also sought to improve relations with the United States, which had been strained due to the latter's support for Pakistan during the 1971 war and India's subsequent proximity with the Soviet Union. The Janata government announced its desire to achieve "genuine" non-alignment in the Cold War, which had been the long-standing national policy. In 1978, Jimmy Carter became the third U.S. president to make an official visit to India. Both nations sought to improve trade and expand cooperation in science and technology. Vajpayee represented India at the U.N. conference on nuclear disarmament, defending India's nuclear programme and its refusal to sign non-proliferation treaties.

Economic policy

The Janata government had lesser success in achieving economic reforms. It launched the Sixth Five-Year Plan, aiming to boost agricultural production and rural industries. Seeking to promote economic self-reliance and indigenous industries, the government required multi-national corporations to go into partnership with Indian corporations. The policy proved controversial, diminishing foreign investment and led to the high-profile exit of corporations such as Coca-Cola and IBM from India.

List of Chief Ministers

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

|- style="height: 60px;"

! scope="col" | No

! scope="col" |Portrait

! scope="col" | Name

! scope="col" | Constituency

! scope="col" | State

! colspan="2" |Term of office

! Tenure length

! Assembly

| 1

| Prem Khandu Thungan

| Dirang Kalaktang

| Arunachal Pradesh

| 13 August 1975

| 18 September 1979

|1st (1978 election)

|Babubhai Patel

|Sabarmati

|Gujarat

|11 April 1977

|17 February 1980

|5th (1975 election)

| 98x98px

|Devi Lal

| Bhattu Kalan

| Haryana

| 21 June 1977

| 28 June 1979

| 5th (1977 election)

| 4

|94x94px

| Shanta Kumar

| Sullah

| Himachal Pradesh

| 22 June 1977

| 14 February 1980

| 4th (1977 election)

| 5

|101x101px

| Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

| Chhabra

| Rajasthan

| 22 June 1977

| 16 February 1980

|6th (1977 election)

| 6

| 100x100px

| Ram Naresh Yadav

| Nidhauli Kalan

| Uttar Pradesh

| 23 June 1977

| 28 February 1979

| 7th (1977 election)

| 7

|99x99px

| Karpoori Thakur

| Phulparas

| Bihar

| 24 June 1977

| 21 April 1979

| 7th (1977 election)

| 8

| 81x81px

| Kailash Chandra Joshi

| Bagli

| Madhya Pradesh

| 24 June 1977

| 18 January 1978

| 6th

| 9

| 96x96px

| Nilamani Routray

| Basudevpur

| Odisha

| 26 June 1977

| 17 February 1980

| 7th (1977 election)

| 10

| Yangmaso Shaiza

| Ukhrul

| Manipur

| 29 June 1977

| 13 November 1979

| 3rd (1974 election)

| 11

| Radhika Ranjan Gupta

| Fatikroy

| Tripura

| 26 July 1977

| 4 November 1977

| 3rd (1972 election)

| 12

| Virendra Kumar Sakhlecha

| Jawad

| Madhya Pradesh

| 18 January 1978

| 20 January 1980

| 6th

| 13

| 88x88px

| Golap Borbora

| Tinsukia

| Assam

| 12 March 1978

| 4 September 1979

|6th

(1978 election)

| 14

|95x95px

| Banarasi Das

| Hapur

| Uttar Pradesh

| 28 February 1979

| 17 February 1980

| 7th (1977 election)

|15

|109x109px

| Ram Sundar Das

| Sonepur

| Bihar

| 21 April 1979

| 17 February 1980

| 7th (1977 election)

| 16

| Bhajan Lal Bishnoi

| Adampur

| Haryana

| 28 June 1979

| 23 May 1982

| 5th (1977 elections)

| 17

|96x96px

| Jogendra Nath Hazarika

| Duliajan

| Assam

| 9 September 1979

| 11 December 1979

|6th

(1978 election)

| 18

| Sunderlal Patwa

| Mandsaur

| Madhya Pradesh

| 20 January 1980

| 17 February 1980

| 6th

| rowspan="2" | 19

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" | Ramakrishna Hegde

| Kanakpura

| rowspan="2" | Karnataka

| 10 January 1983

| 7 March 1985

| rowspan="2" |

| 7th

| Basavanagudi

| 8 March 1985

| 13 August 1988

| rowspan="2" | 8th

| 20

| 102x102px

| S. R. Bommai

| Hubli Rural

| Karnataka

| 13 August 1988

|21 April 1989

Fall of the government

Despite a strong start, the Janata government began to wither as significant ideological and political divisions emerged. On 1 July 1978, Charan Singh resigned from the cabinet of Morarji Desai because of growing differences between them over trial of Indira Gandhi. On 24 January 1979, Charan Singh returned into cabinet and held portfolios of Minister of Finance and becoming Deputy Prime Minister.

Through 1979, support for Morarji Desai had declined considerably due to worsening economic conditions as well as the emergence of allegations of nepotism and corruption involving members of his family. Desai's confrontational attitude eroded his support.

Party Presidents

Chandra Shekhar (1977–1988)
Ajit Singh (1988–1990)
Subramanian Swamy (1990–2013)
Jai Prakash Bandhu (2013- 2021)
Navneet Chaturvedi (2021–Present)

General election results

Lok Sabha seats

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!Year

!Legislature

!Seats contested

!Seats won

!Change in seats

! Percentage of votes

!Vote swing

!Ref.

|1977

|6th Lok Sabha

|405

| 295

|41.32%

| 41.32%

|1980

|7th Lok Sabha

|433

| 264

|18.97%

| 22.35%

|1984

|8th Lok Sabha

|207

| 21

|6.89%

| 12.08%

|1989

|9th Lok Sabha

|155

| 10

|1.01%

| 5.88%

|1991

|10th Lok Sabha

|349

| 5

|3.37%

| 2.36%

|1996

|11th Lok Sabha

|101

| 5

|0.19%

| 3.18%

|1998

|12th Lok Sabha

|16

| 1

|0.12%

| 0.07%

|1999

|13th Lok Sabha

|26

| 1

|0.05%

| 0.07%

State units

Karnataka

Presidents

Veerendra Patil (1977–78)

H. D. Deve Gowda (1978)

M. P. Prakash (1987)

Secretary General

Jeevaraj Alva (1988–1990)

Uttar Pradesh

Anantram Jaiswal

Tamil Nadu

President

Nellai R. Jebamani

Status

In the run-up to the 1980 elections, the remaining Janata party leaders tried unsuccessfully to rebuild the party and make fresh alliances. Desai campaigned for the party but did not himself stand for election, preferring retirement from politics. The Congress (I) capitalised on the aversion of the Indian public to another fragile and dysfunctional government by campaigning on the slogan "Elect A Government That Works!" In 1988, Lok Dal (A) was merged into Janata Party and Ajit Singh was made its president. After some months, it merged into the Janata Dal, which had emerged as the chief opposition party under the leadership of Vishwanath Pratap Singh and the main constituent of the National Front coalition.

But some leaders of Janata Party refused to accept its merger into Janata Dal and continued in Janata Party. These included Indubhai Patel, Subramanian Swamy, Syed Shahabuddin, H. D. Deve Gowda, Sarojini Mahishi. On 4 January 1989, Indubhai Patel was declared as acting president of Janata Party. Janata Dal filed an application to Election Commission of India to seek the transfer of Janata Party symbol to its own. But the Election Commission froze the symbol chakra–haldhar for 1989 general election and as a result, Janata Dal had to use wheel as their election symbol. Janata Party continue to retain its status as unrecognised registered party with Election Commission of India and retains its symbol of chakra-haldhar.

Since the original Janata Party disappeared when it merged into the Janata Dal, these two(the 1977 one and present one) are considered as distinct from one another by many.

Under V. P. Singh, the Janata Dal and the National Front sought to replicate the Janata-style alliance of anti-Congress political parties.