Lokdal or Lok Dal is an Indian political party based on agriculture policies, founded by former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Charan Singh. It was founded on 26 September 1979 by merging Janata Party (Secular), Socialist Party (Limaye) and Orissa Janata Party. Charan Singh was elected president of Lok Dal and

Raj Narain Raj Narain (23 November 1917 – 31 December 1986) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. He won in a famous electoral malpractice case against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which led to her disqualification and, eventually, im ...

, its working president. In August 1982, major split occurred in Lok Dal, with one faction of Charan Singh and another consisted of Karpoori Thakur, Madhu Limaye, Biju Patnaik, Devi Lal,

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 ...

, Kumbha Ram Arya. The rebels were upset because of Charan Singh's dissociation with the coordination committee set up to facilitate the merger of the Lok Dal,

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

and Congress (Secular). Later, in January 1983, Lok Dal led by Karpoori Thakur merged into

. On 21 October 1984, Lok Dal, Democratic Socialist Party of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, Rashtriya Congress of Ratubhai Adani, and some leaders of

including Devi Lal merged together and formed Dalit Mazdoor Kisan Party. Later it changed its name back to the Lok Dal. In February 1987, Lok Dal was split into two factions, Lok Dal (A) of Ajit Singh and Lok Dal (B) of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna. Ajit Singh removed

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 ...

, who was Lok Dal's leader in UP Legislative Assembly and made Satyapal Singh Yadav as Lok Dal's leader. In May 1988, Ajit Singh merged Lok Dal into

and became president of Janata Party. A splinter group led by Sunil Singh is still active in Uttar Pradesh as 'Lok Dal'.

Prominent members

* Charan Singh, founder of Lok Dal and former Prime Minister of India. * Biju Patnaik, former Chief Minister of Odisha. * Devi Lal, former Deputy Prime Minister of India. * Kumbha Ram Arya. * Karpoori Thakur. * Madhu Limaye. * Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and worked as acting-president of Lok Dal between 1986 – 1987. * Ajit Singh. *

Subramanian Swamy Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939) is an Indian politician, economist and statistician. Before joining politics, he was a professor of Mathematical Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is known for his Hindu ...

, was in Lok Dal between 1984 – 1988 and served as general secretary of Lok Dal. * Satya Prakash Malaviya, was general secretary of Lok Dal. * Ram Vilas Paswan, was general secretary of Lok Dal. *

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 ...

, was general secretary of Lok Dal. *

, was Lok Dal's leader in

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, also known as Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Indian state Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house. Member of the Legislative Assembl ...

. * Satya Pal Malik, was general secretary of Lok Dal. * Khurshid Ahmed, Member of Parliament of Faridabad from Lok Dal.

References

{{Janata Parivar Political parties established in 1980 Political parties in India 1980 establishments in India

Prominent members

See also

References