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Bharatiya Lok Dal

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Bharatiya Lok Dal
Founded1974
Dissolved1977
Preceded byBharatiya Kranti Dal
Samyukta Socialist Party
Swatantra Party
Utkal Congress
Merged intoJanata Party
IdeologyAnti-Indira Gandhi[1]
Political positionCentre-left[2]

Bharatiya Lok Dal (transl.  Indian Peoples' Party) was a political party in India. The BLD or simply BL was formed at the end of 1974 through the fusion of seven parties opposed to the rule of Indira Gandhi, including the Swatantra Party, the Samyukta Socialist Party, the Utkal Congress and the Bharatiya Kranti Dal. The leader of the BLD was Charan Singh.[3]

History

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In 1977, the BLD combined with the Jan Sangh and the Indian National Congress (Organization) to form the Janata Party. The newly formed Janata Party contested the 1977 elections on the BLD symbol and formed independent India's first government not ruled by the Indian National Congress.[4]

Despite a strong start, the Janata government began to wither as significant ideological and political divisions emerged. Through 1979, support for Morarji Desai had declined considerably due to worsening economic conditions as well as the emergence of allegations of nepotism and corruption involving members of his family. Protesting Desai's leadership, Charan Singh resigned and withdrew the support of his BLD. Desai also lost the support of the secular and socialist politicians in the party, who saw him as favoring the Hindu nationalist BJS. On 19 July 1979 Desai resigned from the government. Dissidents projected Charan Singh as the new prime minister in place of Desai.[5][6][7][8]

President Reddy appointed Charan Singh as the Prime Minister of a minority government on the strength of 64 MPs, calling upon him to form a new government and prove his majority. The departure of Desai and the BJS had considerably diminished Janata's majority, and numerous Janata MPs refused to support Charan Singh. MPs loyal to Jagjivan Ram withdrew themselves from the Janata party. Former allies such as the DMK, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had distanced themselves from the Janata party. Desperately seeking enough support for a majority, Charan Singh even sought to negotiate with Congress (I), which refused. After only three weeks in office, Charan Singh resigned. With no other political party in position to establish a majority government, President Reddy dissolved the Parliament and called fresh elections for January 1980.[9]

After 1980 elections, Charan Singh came out of the Janata Alliance with his party and renamed it as Lok Dal.

Subsequently, Ajit Singh (son of Charan Singh) founded the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Now Lok Dal is led by Chaudhary Sunil Singh of Aligarh.[10]

Constituent Parties

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References

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  1. ^ "Gandhi ends Indian censorship and frees political prisoners". The Montreal Gazette. 21 January 1977. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  2. ^ Gould, Harold (20 May 2019). India Votes Alliance Politics And Minority Governments In The Ninth And Tenth General Elections. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 9780429722776. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  3. ^ Harsh Singh Lohit. Charan Singh, A Brief Life History. Charan Singh Archives. p. 32.
  4. ^ Grover, Verinder (1997). Political Parties and Party System Volume 5. Deep and Deep publications. pp. 608–609. ISBN 9788171008780.
  5. ^ Horowitz, Donald L. (2001). The Deadly Ethnic Riot. University of California Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-520-22447-6.
  6. ^ Jeff Haynes (2 September 2003). Democracy and Political Change in the Third World. Routledge. pp. 168–. ISBN 978-1-134-54184-3. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  7. ^ de Mesquita, Bruce Bueno (2010). The Predictioneer's Game: Using the Logic of Brazen Self-Interest to See and shape the future. New York: Random House. p. xxiii. ISBN 978-0-8129-7977-0.
  8. ^ Sanghvi, Vijay (2006). The Congress, Indira to Sonia Gandhi By. Delhi: Kalpaz. pp. 114–122. ISBN 978-81-7835-340-1.
  9. ^ "Forty Years Ago, August 21, 1979: Charan Govt Resigns". 21 August 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Lok Dal jumps into poll fray as Chaudhary's heir". The Times of India. 20 January 2012.
  11. ^ Patnaik, B.K. (1985). The Politics of Floor-crossing in Orissa. Santosh Publications. p. 183. Retrieved 6 July 2024. Swatantra, Utkal Congress and S.P.I. merged into Bharatiya Lok Dal.
  12. ^ Asthana, P. (1988). Party System in India: Development Or Decay. Criterian Publications. p. 154. Retrieved 6 July 2024. When the Pragati Legislature Party was formed, the Utkal Congress became a constituent unit of it. In a meeting, on 17th August, 1974, the founder President of the UC party announced the decision of the party to merge with the B.L.D.
  13. ^ "Charan Singh Archives". charansingh.org. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
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