t.com www.GOALias.blogspot.com www.GOALias.blogspot.com

www.GOALias.blogspot.comEra of One-party Dominance 39Bharatiya Jana SanghThe Bharatiya Jana Sangh wasformed in 1951 with Shyama PrasadMukherjee as its founder-President. Itslineage however can be traced backto the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) and the Hindu Mahasabhabefore Independence.The Jana Sangh was different fromother parties in terms of ideology andprogrammes. It emphasised the ideaof one country, one culture and onenation and believed that the countrycould become modern, progressiveand strong on the basis of Indianculture and traditions. Theparty called for a reunionof India and Pakistan inAkhand Bharat. The partywas in forefront of theagitation to replace Englishwith Hindi as the officiallanguage of India andwas also opposed to thegranting of concessionsto religious and culturalminorities. The party wasa consistent advocate of India developing nuclearweapons especially after China carried out its atomictests in 1964.In the 1950s Jana Sangh remained on the marginsof the electoral politics and was able to secure only 3Lok Sabha seats in 1952 elections and 4 seats in 1957general elections to Lok Sabha. In the early years itssupport came mainly from the urban areas in the Hindispeaking states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhiand Uttar Pradesh. The party’s leaders included ShyamaPrasad Mukherjee, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and BalrajMadhok. The Bharatiya Janata Party traces its roots tothe Bharatiya Jana Sangh.Deen DayalUpadhyaya(1916-1968): FulltimeRSS workersince 1942; foundermember of theBharatiya JanaSangh; GeneralSecretary andlater President ofBharatiya JanaSangh; initiated theconcept of integralhumanism.