Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Former Indian political party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh (abbreviated as BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh;[10] lit. 'All-India People's Union') was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.[8] Jan Sangh was the political arm of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindutva paramilitary organisation.[8][11][12][13] In 1977, it merged with several other left, centre, and right parties opposed to the Indian National Congress and formed the Janata Party.[14] In 1980, the members of the erstwhile Jan Sangh quit Janata Party after its defeat in the 1980 general election and formed the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the direct political successor to the Jan Sangh. In Bihar, Ramdeo Mahto considered as founding leader of Bharatiya Janata Party – Bihar, because he brought BJP Into the power in Bihar, he elected as a candidate of Bhartiya Jana Sangh to Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1969 Assembly elections from Patna East Assembly constituency.
Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Shyama Prasad Mukherjee |
| Founded | 21 October 1951[1] |
| Dissolved | 23 January 1977 |
| Split from | Hindu Mahasabha |
| Merged into | Janata Party (1977–1980) |
| Succeeded by | Bharatiya Janata Party (1980–present) |
| Ideology | Hindutva[2] Hindu nationalism[3] Integral humanism[4] National conservatism[5] Economic nationalism[6] |
| Political position | Right-wing[7][8] to far-right[9] |
| Colours | Saffron |
| Election symbol | |
| |
Origins
Many members of the RSS contemplated the formation of a political party during the days of the British Raj, in an attempt to take their ideology further. Around the same time, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee left the Hindu Mahasabha political party that he had once led because of a disagreement with that party over permitting non-Hindu membership.[15][16][17]
There were two main reasons for the formation of Jan Sangh, those being the Liaquat–Nehru Pact and the ban on the RSS after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.[18]
The state level units of the party were already established in Punjab, P.E.P.S.U. (Patiala and East Punjab States Union), Delhi, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Bharat before the party was formally founded at national level.[19] The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was subsequently founded by Mukherjee on 21 October 1951[1] in Delhi under the RSS, as a "nationalistic alternative" to the Indian National Congress.[20]
History
The first plenary session of Jan Sangh was held at Kanpur in December 1952.[21]
After the death of Mukherjee in 1953, RSS activists in the BJS edged out the career politicians and made it a political arm of the RSS and an integral part of the RSS family of organisations (Sangh Parivar).[22]
The strongest election performance of the BJS came in the 1967 Lok Sabha election in which it won 35 seats,[23][24] when the Congress majority was its thinnest ever.[25]
The party secured six out of seven parliamentary seats in Delhi and went on to wrest control of the Metropolitan Council and Municipal corporation.[26]
Ideology
When BJS was formed, an 8-point programme was adopted.This formed the core of its ideology over the next years.[27]
The BJS leadership fervently supported a strong policy against Pakistan and China, and were averse to communism and the Soviet Union. Many BJS leaders also initiated the drive to ban cow slaughter nationwide in the early 1960s.[28] Establishment of full relations with Israel was also a demand in the party manifesto.[9] Uniform Civil Code was mentioned in the 1967 manifesto which said that the party would enact UCC if it came to power.[29]
List of presidents
| # | Portrait | Name | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee | 1951–52 |
| 2 | Mauli Chandra Sharma | 1954 | |
| 3 | Prem Nath Dogra | 1955 | |
| 4 | Debaprasad Ghosh | 1956–59 | |
| 5 | Pitamber Das | 1960 | |
| 6 | Avasarala Rama Rao | 1961 | |
| (4) | Debaprasad Ghosh | 1962 | |
| 7 | Raghu Vira | 1963 | |
| (4) | Debaprasad Ghosh | 1964 | |
| 8 | Bachhraj Vyas | 1965 | |
| 9 | Balraj Madhok | 1966 | |
| 10 |  |
Deendayal Upadhyaya | 1967–68 |
| 11 | .jpg) |
Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 1968–72 |
| 12 |  |
L. K. Advani | 1973–77 |
| See List of national presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party | |||
In general elections
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was created in 1951, and the first general election it contested was in 1951–52, in which it won only three Lok Sabha seats, in line with the four seats won by Hindu Mahasabha and three seats won by Ram Rajya Parishad. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Durga Charan Banerjee were elected from Calcutta South East constituency and Midnapore Jhargram constituency in West Bengal and Uma Shankar Trivedi from Chittor constituency in Rajasthan. All the like-minded parties formed a block in the Parliament, led by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.[30][23]
