Bharatiya Jana Sangh
The
Bharatiya Jana Sangh (abbreviated BJS, and often known simply as the Jan Sangh) existed from 1951 to 1980, whereupon it was succeeded by the
Bharatiya Janata Party, one of India's largest political parties. Its name is
Hindi for Indian People's Alliance.
The
BJS was started by Dr
Syama Prasad Mookerjee (also spelt as
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee) on
21st October 1951 at
Delhi in consultation with the
RSS. The symbol of the party in Indian elections was the lamp. In
1952 general elections to the
Parliament of India, Bharatiya Jana Sangh had won three seats - Dr. Mookerjee being one of the winning candidates. The BJS would often link up on issues and debates with the right-wing
Swatantra Party of
Chakravarti Rajgopalachari. Its strongest parliamentary performance came in the 1967 elections, when the Congress majority was its thinnest-ever.
See Also:
Hindu nationalism,
HindutvaThe BJS was ideologically close to the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and derived most of its political activist base and candidates from the RSS ranks. The BJS was considered the political arm of
Hindu Nationalism, with the RSS being the central base. The
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, formed in 1967 would become the religious arm.
The BJS also attracted many conservative Congressmen who were disenchanted with the policies and politics of
Jawaharlal Nehru and Congress socialists. The BJS's strongest constituencies were in
Rajasthan,
Gujarat,
Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh and
Uttar Pradesh.
The BJS leadership strongly supported a stringent policy against
Pakistan and
China, and were averse to the
USSR and political
Communism in India. Many BJS leaders also inaugurated the drive to ban cow slaughter nationwide in the early 1960s.
In
1975,
Indira Gandhi declared a state of
Emergency, and threw many major opposition politicians in jail including the leaders of the BJS. In
1977, the Emergency was withdrawn, and elections were held. The BJS, joined forces with the
Bharatiya Lok Dal, the
Congress (O), and the
Socialist Party, to form the
Janata Party (People's Party). The Janata Party became the first Indian government not led by the
Indian National Congress. Former BJS leaders
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and
L. K. Advani became the External Affairs (Foreign), and Information and Broadcasting Ministers respectively.
After the Janata Party's poor showing in the
1980 elections, the former Bharatiya Jan Sangh members left to form the
Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been one of the three largest Indian political parties since 1989.
*
Hindu Nationalism,
Hindutva*
Indian Nationalism*
Syama Prasad Mookerjee,
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya,
Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar,
Lal Krishna Advani
