Many members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) began to contemplate the formation of a political party to continue their work, begun in the days of the British Raj, and take their ideology further. Around the same time, Syama 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.[12][13][14] Mainly two reasons led to the formation of Jan Sangh- first was the Liaquat–Nehru Pact and second, the ban on RSS after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.[15] The state level units for Punjab, P.E.P.S.U. (Patiala and East Punjab States Union), Delhi, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Bharat were already established before it was formally founded at national level.[16] The BJS was subsequently started by Mukherjee on 21 October 1951[1] in Delhi, with the collaboration of the R.S.S., as a "nationalistic alternative" to the Congress Party.[17]
History
The first plenary session of Jan Sangh was held at Kanpur in December 1952.[18]
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).[19]
The strongest election performance of the BJS came in the 1967 Lok Sabha election in which it won 35 seats,[20][21] when the Congress majority was its thinnest ever.[22] The party secured six out of seven parliamentary seats in Delhi and went on to wrest control of the Metropolitan Council and Municipal corporation.[23]
When BJS was formed, an 8-point programme was adopted.This formed the core of its ideology over the next years.[24]
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.[25] Establishment of full relations with Israel was also a demand in the party manifesto.[8] Uniform Civil Code was mentioned in the 1967 manifesto which said that the party would enact UCC if it came to power.[26]
↑ Kanungo, Pralaya (November 2006), "Myth of the Monolith: The RSS Wrestles to Discipline Its Political Progeny", Social Scientist, 34 (11/12): 51–69, JSTOR27644183
↑ "On this day 69 years ago, 200 leaders formed Jana Sangh. It is now the BJP". The Print. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2024. When the BJS was formed, the party adopted an eight-point programme that largely formed its ideological core over the next few decades.These were: United Bharat; reciprocity instead of appeasement towards Pakistan; an independent foreign policy consistent with Bharat's paramount self-interest; rehabilitation of refugees with suitable compensation from Pakistan; increased production of goods, especially food and cloth, and decentralisation of industry; development of a single Bharatiya culture; equal rights for all citizens regardless of caste, community or creed, and improvement of the backward classes' standard; and readjustment of West Bengal's boundary with Bihar.
↑ "Anti-cow slaughter mob storms Parliament | From the Archives (dated 8 November 1966)". The Hindu. 8 November 2016. ISSN0971-751X. Retrieved 26 January 2020. Thousands of rupees worth of damage to buildings and vehicles, both private and public, was caused by the mob which, in a violent and vociferous way, was demonstrating for the imposition of a ban on cow slaughter by Government. The parties who organised the demonstration, the number of participants in which was estimated between 3 lakhs and 7 lakhs, were the Jan Sangh, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Arya Samaj and the Sanatan Dharma Sabha
↑ "Uniform Civil Code: A core agenda for BJP, UCC's political genesis dates back to Jana Sangh days". Financial Express. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024. The BJS' Lok Sabha manifesto of 1962 didn't mention the UCC. However, it found a clear mention in the BJS's 1967 manifesto, where it promised citizens that it would enact UCC if voted to power, and would bring "uniform law for marriage, succession and adoption for all citizens".
Graham, B. D. (1990). Hindu Nationalism and Indian Politics: The Origins and Development of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-38348X.
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