Bharatiya Jana Sangh

Last updated

Bharatiya Jana Sangh
PresidentBharat Bhushan Pandey
Founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee
Founded21 October 1951;72 years ago (21 October 1951) [1]
Dissolved23 June 1977;47 years ago (23 June 1977)
Split from Hindu Mahasabha
Merged into Janata Party (1977–1980)
Succeeded by Bharatiya Janata Party (1980–present)
Ideology Hindu nationalism [2]
Hindutva [3]
Integral humanism [4]
National conservatism [5]
Economic nationalism [6]
Political position Right-wing [7] to far-right [8]
Religion Hinduism [9]
Colours  Saffron
Election symbol
Oil lamp.svg

The Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh (abbreviated asBJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, [10] was an Indian nationalist political party. This party was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi, and existed until 1977. Its three founding members were Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal Upadhyaya. Jan Sangh was the political arm of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation. [11] In 1977, it merged with several other left, centre and right parties opposed to the Indian National Congress and formed the Janata Party. [12] In 1980, the members of erstwhile Jan Sangh quit the Janata party after the defeat in the 1980 general elections and formed the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the direct political successor to the Jan Sangh.

Contents

Origins

Syama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh Shyama Prasad Mukherjee portrait in Parliament.jpg
Syama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh

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. [13] [14] [15]
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. [16]
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. [17] 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. [18]

History

The first plenary session of Jan Sangh was held at Kanpur in December 1952. [19]

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). [20]

The strongest election performance of the BJS came in the 1967 Lok Sabha election in which it won 35 seats, [21] [22] when the Congress majority was its thinnest ever. [23]
The party secured six out of seven parliamentary seats in Delhi and went on to wrest control of the Metropolitan Council and Municipal corporation. [24]

Ideology

When BJS was formed, an 8-point programme was adopted.This formed the core of its ideology over the next years. [25]

The BJS leadership fervently supported a strong policy against Pakistan and China, and were averse to the Communist idelogy and the Soviet Union. Many BJS leaders also initiated the drive to ban cow slaughter nationwide in the early 1960s. [26]
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. [27]

Chronological list of presidents

#PortraitNameTerm
1 Shyama Prasad Mukherjee portrait in Parliament.jpg Syama 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 Atal Bihari Vajpayee (crop 2).jpg Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1968–72
12 Lkadvani.jpg L. K. Advani 1973–77
See List of 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 Mookerjee and Durga Charan Banerjee were elected from Bengal and Uma Shankar Trivedi from Rajasthan. All the like-minded parties formed a block in the Parliament, led by Shyama Prasad Mookerjee. [28] [21]

YearGeneral ElectionSeats WonChange in Seat % of votesRef.
1951 1st Lok Sabha 33.06 [28] [22]
1957 2nd Lok Sabha 4Increase2.svg 15.93 [21] [22]
1962 3rd Lok Sabha 14Increase2.svg 106.44 [21] [22]
1967 4th Lok Sabha 35Increase2.svg 219.31 [21] [22]
1971 5th Lok Sabha 22Decrease2.svg 137.35 [29] [22] [30]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh</span> Hindu nationalist organisation in India

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar, which has developed a presence in all facets of Indian society and includes the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling political party under Narendra Modi, the 14th prime minister of India. Mohan Bhagwat has served as the Sarsanghchalak of the RSS since March 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharatiya Janata Party</span> Indian political party

The Bharatiya Janata Party is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP is aligned with right-wing politics and has close ideological and organisational links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a far-right paramilitary organisation. Its policies adhere to Hindutva, a Hindu nationalist ideology. As of January 2024, it is the country's biggest political party in terms of representation in the Parliament of India as well as state legislatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L. K. Advani</span> 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India

Lal Krishna Advani is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist volunteer organization. He is the longest serving Minister of Home Affairs serving from 1998 to 2004. He is also the longest serving Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. He was the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP during the 2009 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syama Prasad Mukherjee</span> Indian politician, barrister and academician (1901-1953)

Syama Prasad Mookerjee was an Indian politician and academician. Noted for his opposition to Quit India movement within the independence movement in India, he later served as India's first Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet after breaking up with the Hindu Mahasabha. After falling out with Nehru, protesting against the Liaquat–Nehru Pact, Mukherjee resigned from Nehru's cabinet. With the help of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor to the Bharatiya Janata Party, in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindu Mahasabha</span> Hindu nationalist political party in India

Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha is a Hindu nationalist political party in India.

Balraj Madhok was an Indian political activist and politician from Jammu. Originally an activist of the nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), he later worked as a politician in the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhai Mahavir</span> Indian politician

Bhai Mahavir was an Indian politician who was governor of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh between April 1998 and March 2003. He was a pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and served as a leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party. He has authored many books and had served two terms prior to his governorship as a member of the Rajya Sabha. He had an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics and studied Law (LLB) from the University of Delhi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanaji Deshmukh</span> Indian Social Reformer

Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh BR, better known as Nanaji Deshmukh, was a social reformer and politician from India. He worked in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award in 2019 by the Government of India. He was a leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and also a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Jagannathrao Joshi was an Indian politician and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deendayal Upadhyaya</span> Indian thinker and former leader of the political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh

Deendayal Upadhyaya, known by the epithet Panditji, was an Indian politician, a proponent of integral humanism ideology and leader of the political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the forerunner of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Upadhyaya started the monthly publication Rashtra Dharma, broadly meaning 'National Faith', in the 1940s to spread the ideals of Hindutva revival. Upadhyaya is known for drafting Jan Sangh's official political doctrine, Integral humanism, by including some cultural-nationalism values and his agreement with several Gandhian socialist principles such as sarvodaya and swadeshi (self-sufficiency).

Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of हिन्दू राष्ट्रवाद. It is better described as "Hindu polity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajasthan</span> Indian political party

Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajasthan is a state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan. Madan Rathore is the current president of the BJP Rajasthan, succeeding Chandra Prakash Joshi who served the position from 2023–2024. Vasundhara Raje was the previous Chief Minister of Rajasthan during 2013–2018, previously she served in the same post from 2003 to 2008. She was the first female Chief Minister of Rajasthan. And the former president of the BJP Rajasthan.

Madhav Prasad Tripathi was a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party from Uttar Pradesh. He was an Indian philosopher, sociologist, historian and political scientist. He was one of the most important leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and played key role in establishing the party, the forerunner of the present day Bharatiya Janata Party.

Mauli Chandra Sharma was a senior Indian politician, originally of the Indian National Congress. He was a founding member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, serving as its Vice-President and President, before being forced out by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activists in the party in 1954.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arun Singh (Indian politician)</span> Indian politician

Arun Singh is an Indian politician who holds the positions of National General Secretary and Head Quarter In-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Singh is currently serving his second term as a member of parliament in the Rajya Sabha. Over the period, Singh has discharged the responsibility as BJP's State Incharge of various states, including Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Odisha, Jharkhand and Ladakh.

The Jammu Praja Parishad was a political party active in the Jammu Division of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. It was founded in November 1947 by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist Balraj Madhok, and served as the main opposition party in the state. It maintained close ties with Bharatiya Jana Sangh during its lifetime and merged with the latter in 1963. Its main activity was to campaign for the close integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India and oppose the special status granted to the state under the Article 370 of the Indian constitution. After its merger with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the precursor of the present day Bharatiya Janata Party, the party gradually rose in stature. As an integral part of the Bharatiya Janata Party, it was a partner in the ruling coalition led by the People's Democratic Party.

Umashankar Muljibhai Trivedi was a noted lawyer and politician of Bharatiya Jan Sangh.

Vasantrao Oak was one of the earliest pracharaks (transl. publicists) and leaders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Hindu Nationalist organisation in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra</span> Indian political party

Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra is a state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Indian state of Maharashtra The headquarters is located in Mumbai.

References

  1. 1 2 "Founding of Jan Sangh". www.bjp.org. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  2. Graham, Bruce D. "The Jana Sangh as a Nationalist Rally". Hindu Nationalism and Indian Politics. Cambridge University Press. p. 94.
  3. Thachil, Tariq (2014). Elite Parties, Poor Voters. Cambridge University Press. p. 42.
  4. Kochanek, Stanley (2007). India: Government and Politics in a Developing Nation. Cengage Learning. p. 333.
  5. Baxter, Craig (1969). The Jana Sangh: a biography of an Indian political party. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 171.
  6. Marty, Martin E. (1996). Fundamentalisms and the State. University of Chicago Press. p. 418.
  7. Field, John Osgood. Electoral Politics in the Indian States. Manohar Book Service. p. 28.
  8. 1 2 "Israeli Diplomats Forged Deep Ties With Hindu Right Wing From Early '60s, Documents Reveal". The Wire. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  9. [[Lahiry, Sutapa. “JANA SANGH AND BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY : A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THEIR PHILOSOPHY AND STRATEGY AND THEIR PROXIMITY WITH THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SANGH PARIVAR.” The Indian Journal of Political Science, vol. 66, no. 4, 2005, pp. 831–50. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41856171. Accessed 8 Jan. 2024.]]
  10. Donald Anthony Low, ed. (1968), Soundings in Modern South Asian History, University of California Press
  11. A. G. Noorani (2000). The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour. LeftWord Books. p. 20. ISBN   9788187496137.
  12. "Syama Prasad Mookerjee: Lesser-known facts about the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder". Firstpost. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  13. Urmila Sharma & SK Sharma 2001, p. 381.
  14. Kedar Nath Kumar 1990, pp. 20–21.
  15. Islam 2006b, p. 227.
  16. Ahmad, Kabool (7 April 2023). "BJP's 43 years: How it emerged from Jana Sangh and became world's largest party". India Today. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  17. "Jana Sangh was formed on this day 70 yrs ago. How its ideology is reflected in today's BJP". The Print. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  18. Sharad Gupta; Sanjiv Sinha (18 January 2000). "Revive Jan Sangh – BJP hardlines". The Indian Express . Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  19. Madhok, Madhuri (20 October 2018). "Time to remember Jana Sangh's history". The Sunday Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  20. Kanungo, Pralaya (November 2006), "Myth of the Monolith: The RSS Wrestles to Discipline Its Political Progeny", Social Scientist, 34 (11/12): 51–69, JSTOR   27644183
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Archis Mohan (9 October 2014). "The roots of India's second republic". Business Standard. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Andersen & Damle 1987, p. 165.
  23. "General Election of India 1967, 4th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  24. Vohra, Pankaj (20 October 2018). "Jana Sangh-BJP saga started in Delhi". The Sunday Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  25. "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.
  26. "Anti-cow slaughter mob storms Parliament | From the Archives (dated 8 November 1966)". The Hindu. 8 November 2016. ISSN   0971-751X . 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
  27. "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".
  28. 1 2 Nag 2014, chapter 1.
  29. Nag 2014, chapter 4.
  30. "Members : Lok Sabha". loksabhaph.nic.in. Parliament of India. Retrieved 2 August 2022.

Sources

Further reading