Janata Dal

Indian centre-left coalition, formed in October 1988 under the leadership of V P Singh and comprising the Janata, Lok Dal (B), Congress (S), and Jan Morcha parties. In a loose alliance with the Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India, the Janata Dal was victorious in the November 1989 general election, taking power out of the hands of the Congress (I) Party. Following internal splits, its minority government fell in November 1990. Since 1992, several breakaway Janata Dal factions have been formed. The party has drawn particularly strong support from Hindu lower castes and, with its secular outlook, recently from Muslims. It formed the core of the new government of H D Deve Gowda in June 1996 and that of Inder Kumar Gujral in April 1997. In the 1998 general election the party formed part of the United Front, an alliance with regional parties, which lost much support and finished third in the hung parliament.