Janata Dal

Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of one of the major Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal and a group of Indian National Congress members led by V.P. Singh.

Ascent to power


It first came to power in 1989, after allegations of corruption, known as the Bofors scandal, caused Rajiv Gandhi's Congress (I) to lose the elections. The National Front coalition that was formed consisted of the Janata Dal and a few smaller parties in the government, and had outside support from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communists. V. P. Singh was the Prime Minister. In November 1990, this coalition collapsed, and a new government headed by Chandra Shekhar which had the support of the Congress (I) and a faction of the Janata Dal came to power. This was a point of great controversy since senior congress leader Ashoke Kumar Sen, a possible prime ministerial candidate for congress, left the INC and joined the Janata Dal, where he was appointed cabinet minister of Steel and Mines. However, this coalition fell shortly causing new elections in June 1991 which brought the Congress back to power.

Its second spell of power started in 1996, when the Janata Dal-led United Front coalition came to power, with outside support from the Congress, choosing H. D. Deve Gowda as their Prime Minister. Congress (I) withdrew their support in less than a year, hoping to gain power with the support of various United Front constituent groups, and Inder Kumar Gujral became the next Janata Dal Prime Minister. His government fell in a few months, and in February 1998, the Janata Dal-led coalition lost power to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Janata Parivar parties
Parties in the United Progressive Alliance
 * Socialist Janata (Democratic) Party of M.P.Veerendrakumar

Parties in the National Democratic Alliance Parties in the new third Front
 * Janata Dal (United)
 * Samata Party of George Fernandes now led by Brahmanand Mandal and Jaya Jaitley
 * Janata Party led by Subramanian Swamy
 * Samajwadi Party
 * Biju Janata Dal
 * Rashtriya Janata Dal
 * Rashtriya Lok Dal led by Ajit Singh
 * Janata Dal (Secular)
 * Indian National Lok Dal led by Om Prakash Chautala
 * Lok Janshakti Party
 * Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) of Late Chandra Shekhar now led by Kamal Morarka