Janata Dal () was an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of

Lok Dal Lokdal or Lok Dal is an Indian political party based on agriculture policies, founded by former Prime Minister Charan Singh. It was founded on 26 September 1979 by merging Janata Party (Secular), Socialist Party (Limaye) and Orissa Janata Party ...

Indian National Congress (Jagjivan) Congress (Jagjivan) was a political party in India. It was formed in August 1981, after Jagjivan Ram resigned from the Indian National Congress (Urs). Ram had rallied an All India Congress Committee (U) meeting of his own, expelling party leader ...

, and the

Jan Morcha The Jan Morcha ( translation: ''People's Front'') was an Indian political party founded by V. P. Singh after he left the Indian National Congress party in 1987 upon being dismissed as Defence Minister by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Together ...

on 11 October 1988—the birth anniversary of

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

under the leadership of

V. P. Singh Vishwanath Pratap Singh (25 June 1931 – 27 November 2008) was an Indian politician who served as the prime minister of India from 1989 to 1990 and the Raja Bahadur of Manda. He was educated at Allahabad University and Fergusson College in ...

History

united the entire disparate spectrum of parties ranging from regional parties such as the

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (TDP; ) is an Indian regional political party primarily active in the Federated state, states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It was founded by Telugu cinema, Telugu matinée idol N. T. Rama Rao (NTR) on 29 March 1982 a ...

, the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

, and the

Asom Gana Parishad Asom Gana Parishad (translation: ''Assam People's Council'', AGP) is a political party in the state of Assam, India. The AGP was formed following the historic Assam Accord of 1985 and formally launched at the Golaghat Convention held from 13 t ...

, together and formed the National Front with

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, film editor, philanthropist, and politician who served as the Chief Minister o ...

as President and

as convenor. The front also included outside support from the

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

and the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

Left Front, led by the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

and

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

. They defeated

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

Congress (I) The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement ...

in the 1989 parliamentary elections. His government fell after

Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Bihar from 1990 to 1997 with a brief interruption in 1995 and as the union minister for Railways from 2004 to 2009. He is the founder and president o ...

got Advani arrested in

Samastipur Samastipur is a City and Municipal Corporation in Bihar, India. It is the headquarter of Samastipur district and comes under Darbhanga division. The Burhi Gandak River flows through the city. It is one of the five railway divisions of ECR, H ...

and stopped his ''

Ram Rath Yatra The ''Ram Rath Yatra'' was a political and religious rally that lasted from September to October 1990. It was organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Hindu nationalist affiliates, and led by the then-president of the BJP, L. K ...

,'' which was going to

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

on the site of the Babri Masjid on 23 October 1990, and the Bharatiya Janata Party withdrew support.

lost a parliamentary vote of confidence on 7 November 1990. In the

1991 Indian general election General elections were held in India on 20 May, 12 June and 15 June 1991 to elect the members of the 10th Lok Sabha, although they were delayed until 19 February 1992 in Punjab. No party could muster a majority in the Lok Sabha, resulting i ...

the Janata Dal lost power but emerged as the third largest party in

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

. The Janata Dal-led

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

formed the government after the

1996 Indian general election General elections were held in India on 27 April, 2 May and 7 May 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha, eleventh Lok Sabha. The elections resulted in a hung parliament with no single party having a clear majority. The Bharatiya Jan ...

with the outside support of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. However, after this the Janata Dal gradually disintegrated into various smaller factions, which largely became regional parties such as

Biju Janata Dal The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is an Indian regional political party with significant influence in the state of Odisha. The party was established to uphold the legacy of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and to address the unique socio-economic ...

Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: National People's Party) is an Indian political party, mainly based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has traditionally been Other ...

Janata Dal (Secular) {{Infobox Indian Political Party , party_name = Janata Dal (Secular) , party_logo = , colorcode = {{party color, Janata Dal (Secular) , abbreviation = JD(S) , president = H. D. Deve Gowda , founder ...

and

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...

Ascent to power

It first came to power in 1989, after cases of corruption, known as the

Bofors scandal The Bofors scandal was a major weapons-contract political scandal that occurred between India and Sweden during the 1980s and 1990s, initiated by Indian National Congress politicians and implicating the Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and ...

, caused

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 Left Front and the

was the prime minister. In November 1990, this coalition collapsed, and a new government headed by

Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar (17 April 1927 – 8 July 2007), also known as Jananayak, was an Indian politician and the prime minister of India, between 10 November 1990 and 21 June 1991. He headed a minority government of a breakaway faction of the Janata ...

under

Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) (SJP(R)) was an Indian political party founded by Chandra Shekhar, who served as prime minister of the country from 1990 to 1991. He led the party until his death on 8 July 2007. At the time of his death, he was ...

which had the support of the congress came to power for a short while. Two days before the vote,

, an ambitious Janata Dal rival who had been kept out of the National Front government, joined with Devi Lal, a former deputy prime minister under V. P. Singh, to form the Samajwadi Janata Party, with a total of just sixty

members. The day after the collapse of the National Front government, Chandra Shekhar informed the president that by gaining the backing of the Congress (I) and its electoral allies he enjoyed the support of 280 members of the Lok Sabha, and he demanded the right to constitute a new government. Even though his rump party accounted for only one-ninth of the members of the Lok Sabha, Chandra Shekhar succeeded in forming a new minority Government and becoming Prime Minister (with Devi Lal as deputy prime minister). However, Chandra Shekhar's government fell less than four months later, after the Congress (I) withdrew its support. I k gujral

Its second spell of power began in 1996, when the Janata Dal-led

coalition came to power, with outside support from the congress under

Sitaram Kesri Sitaram Kesri (15 November 1919 – 24 October 2000) was an Indian politician and parliamentarian. He became a union minister and served as President of the Indian National Congress from 1996 to 1998. __TOC__ Political career Pre-Independenc ...

, choosing H. D. Deve Gowda as their prime minister. The Congress withdrew their support in less than a year, after the H. D. Deve Gowda Government restarted probing the corruption cases against a lot of Congress leaders, hoping to gain power with the support of various United Front constituent groups, and

I. K. Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician, and anti-colonial independence activist, who served as prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998. Born in Punjab, he was influenced by ...

became the next prime minister. His government too fell in a few months, and in February 1998, the Janata Dal-led coalition lost power to the

in General Elections.

List of prime ministers & chief ministers of India

Prime ministers

Chief ministers

Electoral records

Vice President & Deputy Prime Minister of India

Party presidents & deputy chief ministers

National units

Thakur Ji Pathak (1989 – 1994)- National General Secretary

State units

Uttar pradesh

Anantram Jaiswal Anantram Jaiswal (1 April 1924 - 17 January 2015) was a freedom fighter and Indian politician was also a Member of Parliament of India. He was a member of the 6th Lok Sabha and was also a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Jais ...

(1983)

Karnataka

''Presidents''

B. Rachaiah (1989)

Siddaramaiah Siddaramaiah (born 3 August 1947), also referred to by his nickname Siddu, is an Indian politician who is serving as the 22nd List of chief ministers of Karnataka, chief minister of Karnataka from 20 May 2023. He also held that position previo ...

(Feb 1999) C. Byre Gowda (July 1999)

''General Secretary''

Jeevaraj Alva (1989-1990) C. Narayanaswamy (1999)

Tamil Nadu

''President''

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...

(1989-1993)

Janata Dal factions

Defunct parties

Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik) Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik); English: People's Rights Party (Democratic) was a political party in Bihar, India. The party was formed by Indian politician Pappu Yadav in May 2015. Pappu Yadav was a Member of Parliament from Madhepura and was ...

led by

Pappu Yadav Rajesh Ranjan (born 24 December 1967) popularly known as Pappu Yadav, is an Indian politician from Bihar, and a member of Parliament (MP) representing Purnia constituency in Bihar. Emerging from a background linked to crime, Yadav transitio ...

(merged with

). *

of Late

is now defunct because of weak leadership. *

Samajwadi Janata Dal (Democratic) Samajwadi Janata Dal (Democratic) was a political party in India. Devendra Prasad Yadav is the leader of the party. The election symbol of the party is an air conditioner. On 24 March 2022, SJD(D) merged with Rashtriya Janata Dal. History Party ...

led by

Devendra Prasad Yadav Devendra Prasad Yadav (born 26 November 1953) is a former member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Jhanjharpur constituency of Bihar and was a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United) and Janata Dal. He joine ...

(merged with

). * Bharatiya Sablog Party led by Arun Kumar (merged with

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJP (RV)) is an Indian political party formed in 2021 under the leadership of Chirag Paswan. Election Commission of India froze the symbol of erstwhile main Lok Janshakti Party and allotted new name and sy ...

). *

Lok Janshakti Party The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP, ) was a state political party mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The party was formed in 2000 when Ram Vilas Paswan split from Janata Dal. The party had a considerable following amongst Dalits in Bihar. ...

of Late

Ram Vilas Paswan Ram Vilas Paswan (5 July 19468 October 2020) was an Indian politician from Bihar and the Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the First Modi ministry, first and Second Modi ministry, second Modi ministries. Pasw ...

and led by

Chirag Paswan Chirag Paswan (born 31 October 1982) is an Indian politician and former actor who is serving as the 19th Minister of Food Processing Industries since June 2024, the 1st president of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) since 2021, 2nd presiden ...

(split into the

led by Ram's son

, and the

Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party ( RLJP; translation: ''National People's Manpower Party'') is an Indian political party formed in October 2021 under the leadership of Pashupati Kumar Paras. It was previously part of the unified Lok Janshakti Pa ...

led by Ram's brother

Pashupati Kumar Paras Pashupati Kumar Paras (born 12 July 1952) is an Indian politician who served as the Minister of Food Processing Industries in the Government of India from 2021 till his resignation in 2024. He was also a member of 17th Lok Sabha from Hajipur ( ...

). *

Rashtriya Lok Samta Party Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (abbreviated as RLSP; translation: ''National People's Equity Party'') was a political party in India led by Upendra Kushwaha. It was launched on 3 March 2013 and was based in the state of Bihar. The party came into exi ...

led by

Upendra Kushwaha Upendra Kumar Singh, commonly known as Upendra Kushwaha (born 6 February 1960) is an Indian politician, and a former Member of Bihar Legislative Council and Bihar Legislative Assembly. He has also served as Minister of State for Human Resources ...

(merged with

Janata Dal United Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...

). * Loktantrik Janata Dal led by Late

Sharad Yadav Sharad Yadav (1 July 1947 – 12 January 2023) was an Indian politician from the Loktantrik Janata Dal(LJD) party. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times and to the Rajya Sabha four times from JD(U). He was the first national president of ...

(merged with

). * Socialist Janata Party led by Manju Mohan (merged with

Socialist Party (India) The Socialist Party was an Indian political party. It won 12 seats at the 1951 Indian general election, coming third. Despite Jayaprakash Narayan's personal popularity, its electoral fortunes did not improve. It merged with the Kisan Mazd ...

). *

Samras Samaj Party Samras Samaj Party (SSP) is a former political party in Bihar. SSP was a splinter faction of Janata Dal (United) (JDU). The leader of SSP is Nagmani. In September 2015, the leaders of six parties Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, J ...

led by Nagmani (merged with

). *

Samata Party The Samata Party (SAP) is a political party in India, initially formed in 1994 by George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar, is now being led by Uday Mandal as its National President. Samata Party once launched Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister of ...

of Late

George Fernandes George Mathew Fernandes (3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian politician, trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the Minister of Defence (India), Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. A veteran socialist, h ...

(merged with

). * Socialist Janata (Democratic) led by Late

M. P. Veerendra Kumar Maniyankode Padmaprabha Veerendra Kumar (15 August 1937 — 28 May 2020) was an Indian politician, writer and journalist, who was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha. He was a member of the Loktantrik Janata Dal political party and president of t ...

(merged with

) *

of Late

and led by

Ajeya Pratap Singh Ajeya Pratap Singh (born 1956), formerly known as Ajeya Singh, is an Indian politician, a member of the Indian National Congress, and the pretender to the throne of Manda. Political career He was a president of the Jan Morcha party which was l ...

(merged with

). *

Odisha Jan Morcha Odisha Janmorcha (OJM) is a political party of the Indian state of Odisha led by Pyarimohan Mohapatra. It was founded on 10 April 2013. Odisha Janmorcha Party is allotted 'kite' symbol by the Election commission of India. See also * List of p ...

is defunct because of weak leadership. *

Odisha Gana Parishad The Odisha Gana Parishad (ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଗଣ ପରିଷଦ ; ''Odisha Popular Association''), was an Indian political party in the Indian state of Odisha, a splinter group of Biju Janata Dal. The party was founded on 29 October 2000. T ...

led by

Bijoy Mohapatra Bijoy Mohapatra (born 7 November 1950) is a politician from Odisha. A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he was Irrigation Minister of Odisha from 1990 to 1995 in the Biju Patnaik cabinet. He was the most powerful minister (known as Super ...

(merged with

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the List of political parties in India#State parties, state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra with a recognised state party statu ...

). * All India Progressive Janata Dal led by Late

Ramakrishna Hegde Ramakrishna Mahabaleshwar Hegde (29 August 1926 – 12 January 2004) was an Indian politician who served as the third Chief Minister of Karnataka for three terms between 1983 and 1988. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1 ...

and late

S. R. Bommai Somappa Rayappa Bommai (6 June 1924 – 10 October 2007) was an Indian Politician who was the 4th Chief Minister of Karnataka. He was also the Human Resource Development Minister in the United Front government from 1996 to 1998. He is widely r ...

(merged with

). * Janata Dal (Left) led by Late Surendra Mohan and Late

(merged with

). *

Lok Shakti Lok Shakti ( lit. People's Power) was a political party in India. Lok Shakti was one of several parties that were formed when the Janata Dal crumbled in the mid-1990s. LS was formed in February 1997 after Ramakrishna Hegde was expelled from ...

led by Late

(merged with

). *

Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohiya) Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) (translation: ''Progressive Socialist Party (Lohia)''), earlier known as Samajwadi Secular Morcha, was a political party formed by former cabinet minister of Uttar Pradesh Shivpal Singh Yadav after leaving t ...

led by Shivpal Singh Yadav (merged with

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

). *

Janata Dal (Gujarat) Janata Dal (Gujarat) was a political party in Gujarat, India. It was a splinter group of Janata Dal. This group was led by Chimanbhai Patel and Chhabildas Mehta. It was later dissolved and its leaders joined the Indian National Congress. Gujarat ...

led by Late

Chimanbhai Patel Chimanbhai Patel (3 June 1929 – 17 February 1994) was an Indian politician associated with Indian National Congress and Janata Dal, and a former Chief Minister of Gujarat state in India representing both those parties at various times. Pate ...

and Late

Chhabildas Mehta Chhabildas Mehta (4 November 1925 – 29 November 2008) was an Indian politician and the former Chief Minister of Gujarat who served from 1994 to 1995. Early life Mehta was in born in Mahuva, a port town in Gujarat. He left high school in 19 ...

(merged with

). * Janata Dal (Digvijay) led by Digvijay Singh (merged with

). * Janata Dal (Ajit) led by Late Ajit Singh (merged with

). * Janata Dal (Socialist) led by Late

, Late

Devi Lal Devi Lal (25 September 1914 – 6 April 2001) was an Indian statesman and politician who briefly served as the deputy prime minister of India from 1990 to 1991 and previously from 1989 to 1990. Lal emerged as a prominent advocate for rural and ...

, Late

Mulayam Singh Yadav Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialism, socialist figure and founder of the Samajwadi Party. Over the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three t ...

(renamed as Late

). * Punjab Janata Morcha (PJM), in English the Punjab Popular Front, was a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. The party formed in 1989 as a splinter group of the Janata Dal. The party failed to win any election seats in its lifetime. Party president

Kirpal Singh Kirpal Singh (6 February 1894 – 21 August 1974) was a spiritual master ('' satguru'') in the tradition of Radha Soami. Kirpal Singh was born in Sayyad Kasran, Punjab, in what is now Pakistan. He lived in Lahore during the period of his dis ...

announced that the PJM was disbanded in 1997. Most members joined the

by 2003.

References

{{Janata Parivar parties Defunct political parties in India V. P. Singh administration 1988 establishments in India 1999 disestablishments in India Political parties disestablished in 1999 Political parties established in 1988