History
The Janata Dal (Secular) traces its roots back to the Janata Party organized by Jayprakash Narayan that united all anti-Indira Gandhi parties under one banner for the 1977 national elections.The Janata Party split twice, first in 1979 and then in 1980 leading to the birth of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which comprised members of the erstwhile Jan Sangh which was close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Janata Dal was formed in Bangalore by the merger of the Janata Party with smaller opposition parties in 1988. In May 1996, H.D. Deve Gowda, now leader of Janata Dal (Secular), became Prime Minister of India as part of a coailition (called United Front) government.
Janata Dal split in 1999 when some leaders left to ally with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and form the Janata Dal (United) party. That party was led by George Fernandes while H.D. Deve Gowda emerged as the leader of the Janata Dal (Secular). Even though the premise for the split was its opposition to allying with the National Democratic Alliance, Deve Gowda stayed equally away from the Indian National Congress from the outset.The 2004 elections in Karnataka witnessed the revival of the party’s fortunes with Janata Dal (Secular) becoming part of the ruling coalition in the state. Subsequently, party leader H. D. Kumaraswamy headed a popular coalition government in the state for 20 months with supports from BJP.
JD(S) is the third-largest in the Karnataka state legislature and 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(S) allying with the Indian National Congress (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(S) considered INC to be the lesser of the two evils on account of its erstwhile secular and centre left credentials.
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