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 Congressmen led by V.P. Singh.

Ascent to power

It first came to power in 1989, after allegations of corruption, known as the Bofors affair, 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.

Factions

This party has had several splits. Amongst the larger splinter groups include the Rashtriya Janata Dal (which ruled the state of Bihar), Samajwadi Party (a major force in Uttar Pradesh), Biju Janata Dal (governing Orissa), Janata Dal (Secular) (which ruled the state of Karnataka) and the Janata Dal (United), (currently ruling Bihar and whose leader George Fernandes was the Defense Minister of India) and Samajwadi Janta Party (R) headed by Chandra Shekhar is the only faction having some national image. Several smaller splinter groups also exist, including Lok Janshakti Party and Janta Party.