View source for Jan Morcha

{{for|the newspaper|Jan Morcha (newspaper)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox Indian political party
|party_name         = Jan Morcha
|colorcode          = {{party color|Jan Morcha}}
|foundation         = 1987
|founder            = [[V. P. Singh]]
|split=[[Indian National Congress]]
|merged=[[Janata Dal]]
|position          = [[Centre-left politics|Centre-left]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Gould |first=Harold|author-link=Harold A. Gould|date=20 May 2019|title=India Votes Alliance Politics And Minority Governments In The Ninth And Tenth General Elections |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbuZDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Bharatiya+Lok+Dal%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT82 |publisher=Taylor and Francis|page= |isbn=9780429722776|access-date=19 July 2024|quote="... opposition parties of the Center-Left (Janata Party, Lok Dal(A), Lok Dal(B) and the Jan Morcha."}}</ref>
|abbreviation=
}}

[[File:V. P. Singh (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[V. P. Singh]], founder of the Jan Morcha and Prime Minister of India in 1989–90]]
The '''Jan Morcha''' ([[translation]]: ''People's Front'') was an Indian political party founded by [[V. P. Singh]] after he left the [[Indian National Congress]] party in 1987 upon being dismissed as Defence Minister by Prime Minister [[Rajiv Gandhi]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Together with [[Arun Nehru]], [[Arif Mohammed Khan]], [[Mufti Mohammad Sayeed]], [[Vidya Charan Shukla]], [[Ram Dhan]], [[Raj Kumar Rai]] and [[Satyapal Malik]], Singh formed a nucleus of opposition to the Rajiv Gandhi government that had a commanding majority in the [[Lok Sabha]].<ref>"Congress Decline and Party Pluralism in India", by C. Candland, ''Journal of International Affairs'', 1997.</ref>

Following the increasing visibility of his stand against corruption in public life and his growing popularity, the social-democratic parties like the [[Janata Party]], [[Lok Dal]] and [[Indian National Congress (Socialist)|Congress (S)]] – many of them survivors of the original Janata Party of 1977 – came together and merged with the Jan Morcha to form the [[Janata Dal]] to fight the [[1989 Indian general election|1989 general elections]]. In which, the [[National Front (India)|National Front]], together with the Leftist parties and Rightist parties opposed to the Congress gained a plurality of seats. Subsequently V. P. Singh served as prime minister for eleven months.

Following the Janata Dal's time in power and its subsequent split and decline, V. P. Singh, after surviving a battle with cancer, re-formed the Jan Morcha in 2005 with socialist actor-politician [[Raj Babbar]] as its public face.<ref>[https://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060424/nation.htm The Tribune]</ref> In the [[2007 Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections]], the party fielded 118 candidates, but other than [[Dharmpal Singh]], who won from [[Dayalbagh]], defeating Kishan Lal Baghel of the [[Bahujan Samaj Party]] by three thousand votes (1.7%), no other candidate was successful.<ref>[http://archive.eci.gov.in/May2007/pollupd/ac/candlwc/s24/s24jmacnst.htm#s24 List of Contestants of Jan Morcha] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930102214/http://archive.eci.gov.in/May2007/pollupd/ac/candlwc/s24/s24jmacnst.htm#s24 |date=30 September 2007 }} Election Commission website.</ref> After this poor showing, Babbar joined the Congress, and Singh's elder son [[Ajeya Pratap Singh]] took over the reins of the party in anticipation of the 2009 general elections.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035249/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2008112854871400.htm&date=2008%2F11%2F28%2F&prd=th& An irreparable loss: Mayawati]}}</ref>

In March 2009 Ajeya Singh announced that Jan Morcha was to be merged with the [[Lok Janshakti Party]] (LJP), of which he became a vice president and its Lok Sabha candidate from [[Fatehpur, Fatehpur|Fatehpur]] constituency.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090312044141/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2009030760711200.htm&date=2009/03/07/&prd=th& Jan Morcha merges with LJP]}}</ref> However, later, [[Ram Vilas Paswan]] joined hands with the [[Samajwadi Party]] (SP) of [[Mulayam Singh Yadav]] and the RJD of [[Laloo Prasad Yadav]], to form a ''Fourth front'', and Mulayam Singh declared that the LJP would not contest any seats in UP. Ajeya Singh then contested as Jan Morcha candidate from Fatehpur, but lost to [[Rakesh Sachan]] of the SP. The Jan Morcha was renamed as the National Jan Morcha in June 2009 and dedicated to farmer's causes and to forging a third alternative in national politics.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090624012827/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2009060550920900.htm&date=2009%2F06%2F05%2F&prd=th& National Jan Morcha plans farmers’ meet in Delhi]}}</ref> A month later, the Jan Morcha merged with the [[Indian National Congress]].<ref>[http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200907251822.htm Jan Morcha merges with Congress]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Janata Parivar parties}}

[[Category:V. P. Singh administration]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:1987 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Janata Parivar]]
[[Category:Janata Dal]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1987]]