Behind BJP’s break with old allies — a radical change in India’s party system

Behind BJP’s break with old allies — a radical change in India’s party system

Subject : History

Section: Modern History 

Concept:

• From 1989 to 2014, India saw an era of coalition politics, its third party system, where the BJP and the Congress were the main poles for alliances
• The first and second party system in India was dominated by the Congress party in the years following independence, from 1947 to around 1989, when even in 1967 when the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD) governments and the 1977 Janata government came about, the Congress remained the main pole around which party politics revolved.

SamyuktaVidhayak Dal

• SamyuktaVidhayak Dal was coalition of parties formed in several north Indian states after the 1967 assembly elections, made up of the Bharatiya Kranti Dal, the Samyukta Socialist Party, the Praja Socialist Party and the Jana Sangh. The coalition opposed the Indian National Congress party that had hitherto single-handedly dominated Indian politics

Bharatiya Kranti Dal

• Bharatiya Kranti Dal was a political party in India, formed by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Charan Singh. The party was founded at a meeting in Lucknow in October 1967.
• After the 1977 general election, the party merged into the Janata Party.

Samyukta Socialist Party

• Samyukta Socialist Party (transl. United Socialist Party; abbr. SSP), was a political party in India from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in 1964. In 1972, SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party

Praja Socialist Party

• The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, RambrikshBenipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party led by J. B. Kripalani (former president of the Indian National Congress and a close associate of Jawaharlal Nehru).
• In September 1952, the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party merged with the Socialist Party with J. B. Kriplani as the chairman and Asoka Mehta as the general secretary.

Bharatiya Jana Sangh

• The Bharatiya Jana Sangh (abbreviated as BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the political arm of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation.
• In 1977, it merged with several other left, centre and right parties opposed to the Indian National Congress and formed the Janata Party.
• In 1980, Jana Sangh faction broke away from Janata Party over the issue of dual membership (of the political Janata Party and the social organization RSS), and formed the Bharatiya Janata Party.