Janata Party - Demise

Demise

In the run-up to the 1980 elections, the remaining Janata party leaders tried unsuccessfully to rebuild the party and make fresh alliances. Desai campaigned for the party but did not himself stand for election, preferring retirement from politics. The Congress (I) capitalised on the aversion of the Indian public to another fragile and dysfunctional government by campaigning on the slogan "Elect A Government That Works!" Indira Gandhi apologised for mistakes made during the Emergency and won the endorsement of respected national leaders such as Vinoba Bhave. At the polls, the candidates running under the Janata ticket were resoundingly defeated - the party lost 172 seats, winning only 31. Indira Gandhi and the Congress (I) returned to power with a strong majority. Sanjay Gandhi was also elected to the Parliament. President Reddy was succeeded at the end of his term in 1982 by Congress (I) leader Zail Singh.

Between 1980 and 1989, the Janata party maintained a small presence in the Indian Parliament under the leadership of socialist politician Chandra Sekhar. In 1988, it merged into the Janata Dal, which had emerged as the chief opposition party under the leadership of Vishwanath Pratap Singh and the main constituent of the National Front coalition. Singh had become widely popular for exposing the role of the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the eldest son and successor of Indira, in the Bofors scandal. Under V. P. Singh, the Janata Dal and the National Front sought to replicate the Janata-style alliance of anti-Congress political parties. Although it failed to win a majority, it managed to form a fragile coalition government with V.P. Singh as the Prime Minister with the outside support of the BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). However, Singh's government soon fell victim to intra-party rivalries and power struggles, and his successor Chandra Sekhar's Janata Dal (Socialist) government lasted barely into 1991.