Janata Dal (United)
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Janata Dal (United), regional political party in Bihar and Jharkhand states, eastern India. It also has had a presence in national politics and in the central government in New Delhi. Since 2013, the JD(U) has oscillated frequently between opposing political alliances, earning itself the reputation of being an unreliable and difficult partner.
Origin
The party’s origin can be traced to the founding of the Janata (People’s) Party in 1977, a coalition of several smaller parties that combined forces to oppose the Indian National Congress (Congress Party) and its leader, Indira Gandhi, then prime minister of India. In 1988 Vishwanath Pratap Singh was a principal founder of the Janata Dal (JD) through the merger of the Janata Party and two smaller parties as part of the United Front (UF), a renewed opposition to the Congress Party. By 1994 two prominent party members, the socialist leaders George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar, had split from the JD and formed the Samata (Equality) Party.
Another division of the JD occurred in 1997 when Lalu Prasad Yadav pulled out his followers and formed the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD; National People’s Party), which then became a powerful force in Bihar state politics. Prior to that split, however, the JD’s H.D. Deve Gowda was able to form a short-lived (June 1996–April 1997) UF coalition government, with himself as prime minister.
First alliance with the BJP
In 1999 the JD decided to support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition government in New Delhi. The faction led by Deve Gowda, however, opposed associating with the NDA and established a rival party that took the name Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S). What remained of the JD was designated Janata Dal (United) and, headed by Sharad Yadav, joined the NDA government. Four years later, in October 2003, the JD(U) merged with the Samata and other smaller parties as a reconstituted JD(U). Fernandes became the first president of the new party, and Yadav headed up its parliamentary board.
The 2003 re-formation of the JD(U) was largely a move to counter the RJD’s several years of dominance in Bihar. While espousing the ideology of socialism, secularism, and democracy, the JD(U) succeeded in its broad objective of winning over lower-caste Hindus and the minority Muslim population, who had been strong supporters of the RJD. Being a part of the BJP-led NDA government at that time, the JD(U) opposed the policies of both the Congress Party and a so-called “Third Front,” consisting of leftist and other regional parties.
Bihar government
The JD(U) first slated candidates for office for the February 2005 Bihar state legislative assembly elections, in which it won the second largest number of seats, behind the RJD. The RJD could not form a government, however, and in a second poll, held in October 2005, the JD(U) scored a decisive victory, gaining 88 out of 243 seats. It had established an alliance with the BJP for both contests in 2005, and the two parties formed a coalition government in the state, with Nitish Kumar as the chief minister (head of government). The Kumar government quickly put in place policies aimed at turning around the economically underdeveloped state.
The administration’s strong and largely corruption-free performance in its first term was among the reasons why the JD(U) had an even better showing in the 2010 assembly elections, in which it won 115 seats. Again teaming with partner BJP (91 seats), it formed another coalition government, with Kumar returning as chief minister. The party also performed well in the 2009 elections to the Lok Sabha (lower chamber of the Indian parliament), in which 20 of its candidates won seats.
Bihar remained the JD(U)’s stronghold, although the party also had some electoral success in neighboring Jharkhand (which had been carved out of Bihar in 2000). In the 2005 Jharkhand assembly elections, the party won six seats in the 81-member lower chamber, but it could garner only two seats in the 2010 polls. The party carefully nurtured a secular image in Bihar, and it remained apprehensive about its association with the BJP, perceived as pro-Hindu and anti-Muslim, and what fallout that might have for the JD(U) among the state’s Muslim voters. Before the 2010 assembly elections, it opposed a BJP proposal to allow Narendra Modi, the BJP’s controversial leader and chief minister of the western Indian state of Gujarat, to campaign in Bihar.
Changing alliances
The party also opposed the selection of Modi by the BJP to be the NDA’s candidate for prime minister for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and in June 2013 the JD(U) left the NDA. The result was a devastating defeat for the JD(U) in the 2014 election results, in which the party won only two seats. Kumar, taking responsibility for the poor showing, resigned as chief minister of Bihar in mid-May and was succeeded by fellow party member Jitan Ram Manjhi. In February 2015 Manjhi was asked to resign so that Kumar could resume his chief ministership, but Manjhi refused. He was expelled from the JD(U), causing a political crisis in Bihar. He eventually submitted his resignation, and Kumar took over as chief minister.
In June 2015 the JD(U) and the RJD, longtime rivals in Bihar, formed a Mahagathbandhan, or “grand alliance.” In 2017 the JD(U) exited the Mahagathbandhan and rejoined the BJP-led NDA, winning 16 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, the JD(U) won 43 seats of 243, far below the 122 seats needed to win a majority. However, the BJP won 74, and the NDA coalition formed the government with Kumar as chief minister again. Two years later the JD(U) exited the NDA again and announced a “Mahagathbandhan 2.0” with the RJD and other parties.
The JD(U) returned to the NDA just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and became a kingmaker after the BJP failed to win the 272 seats needed to achieve a majority. The BJP won 240 of 543 seats and formed the government with the help of its allies, including the JD(U)’s 12 seats and the Telugu Desam Party’s 16 seats.
In November 2024 the JD(U) found itself in the position of being a key ally to the BJP in the troubled state of Manipur, where violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities have left at least 250 dead since 2023. The National People’s Party (NPP), led by politician Conrad Sangma, withdrew its support to the BJP government in the state, citing the administration’s failure to restore normalcy in Manipur; a year earlier, the Kuki People’s Alliance had also pulled out as an ally of the BJP. This left the JD(U), with six legislators in Manipur, as the BJP’s most crucial ally in the state.