Janata Dal (Secular)


The Janata Dal is an Indian political party led by former prime minister of India, H. D. Deve Gowda. The party is recognized as a State Party in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. It was formed in July 1999 by the split of Janata Dal party. It has a political presence mainly in Karnataka. In Kerala, the party is a part of the Left Democratic Front.

History

The Janata Dal,formed in 1999, had its origins in the Janata Party,founded in 1977 as a coalition of several smaller parties that combined forces to oppose the Indian National Congress. In 1988 the Janata Party and other smaller parties merged to form the Janata Dal. In 1996, Janata Dal reached its pinnacle when H. D. Deve Gowda became Prime Minister of India, heading the United Front coalition government.
The Janata Dal split in 1999, when a faction led by Chief Minister J. H. Patel lent support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance leading to the formation of Janata Dal under H. D. Deve Gowda and Siddaramaiah. The Sharad Yadav faction of the Janata Dal, the Lok Shakti and the Samata Party merged as the Janata Dal. Even though the premise for the split was its opposition to allying with the National Democratic Alliance, H. D. Deve Gowda stayed equally away from the Indian National Congress from the outset.
JD in Karnataka state for a time governed in a coalition with the Indian National Congress party, the first coalition government in Karnataka. There was much controversy over the JD allying with the INC in Bangalore as the INC formerly had an outright majority and was diminished to second place with the BJP having a plurality. However, the JD considered INC to be the lesser of the two evils on account of its erstwhile secular and center-left credentials.
The 2004 Karnataka Assembly election witnessed the revival of the party's fortunes with JD becoming part of the ruling coalition in the state.
On 14 April 2015, the JD, Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Indian National Lok Dal, Samajwadi Party, and Samajwadi Janata Party announced that they would merge into a new national Janata Parivar alliance in order to oppose the BJP, thus leaving the UPA.

Prominent members

Chief ministers of Karnataka

Deputy chief ministers of Karnataka

Assembly election history in Karnataka

Assembly election history in Kerala

Lok Sabha election history in Karnataka