Editing Bharatiya Janata Party (section)

== Precursors ==
=== Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1951–77) ===
{{multiple image
| align     = right
| direction = vertical
| header    = Influential figures
| width     = 220
| image1    = Shyama Prasad Mukherjee portrait in Parliament.jpg
| caption1  = [[Syama Prasad Mookerjee]], founder-president of the [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]]
| image3    = Lkadvani.jpg
| caption3  = [[L. K. Advani|Lal Krishna Advani]], the last president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh
}}
{{Main|Bharatiya Jana Sangh}}

The BJP's origins lie in the [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]], popularly known as the Jana Sangh, founded by [[Syama Prasad Mukherjee]] in 1951 in response to the politics of the dominant [[Indian National Congress|National Congress party]]. It was founded in collaboration with the [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] volunteer organisation, the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS), and was widely regarded as the political arm of the RSS.{{sfn|Noorani|1978|p=216}} The Jana Sangh's aims included the protection of India's "Hindu" cultural identity, in addition to countering what it perceived to be the appeasement of Muslim people and the country of [[Pakistan]] by the [[Indian National Congress|Congress party]] and then-Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. The RSS loaned several of its leading ''[[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|pracharaks]]'', or full-time workers, to the Jana Sangh to get the new party off the ground. Prominent among these was [[Deendayal Upadhyaya]], who was appointed General Secretary. The Jana Sangh won only three [[Lok Sabha]] seats in the [[1951–52 Indian general election|first general elections in 1952]]. It maintained a minor presence in parliament until 1967.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|pp=116–119}}{{sfn|Guha|2007|p=136}}

The Jana Sangh's first major campaign, begun in early 1953, centred on a demand for the complete integration of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] into India.{{sfn|Guha|2007|p=250}} Mukherjee was arrested in May 1953 for violating orders from the state government restraining him from entering Kashmir. He died of a heart attack the following month, while still in jail.{{sfn|Guha|2007|p=250}} [[Mauli Chandra Sharma]] was elected to succeed Mukherjee; however, he was forced out of power by the RSS activists within the party, and the leadership went instead to Upadhyaya. Upadhyay remained the General Secretary until 1967, and worked to build a committed grassroots organisation in the image of the RSS. The party minimised engagement with the public, focusing instead on building its network of propagandists. Upadhyaya also articulated the philosophy of [[Integral humanism (India)|integral humanism]], which formed the official doctrine of the party.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|pp=122–126, 129–130}} Younger leaders, such as [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]] and [[L. K. Advani|Lal Krishna Advani]] also became involved with the leadership in this period, with Vajpayee succeeding Upadhyaya as president in 1968. The major themes on the party's agenda during this period were legislating a [[Uniform Civil Code#Hindu Code Bill and addition to the Directive Principles|uniform civil code]], banning [[Cattle in religion and mythology#Hinduism|cow slaughter]] and abolishing the [[Article 370 of the Constitution of India|special status given to Jammu and Kashmir]].{{sfn|Guha|2007|pp=250, 352, 413}}

After assembly elections across the country in 1967, the party entered into a coalition with several other parties, including the [[Swatantra Party]] and the socialists. It formed governments in various states across the [[Hindi Belt]], including [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Bihar]] and [[Uttar Pradesh]]. It was the first time the Jana Sangh held political office, albeit within a coalition; this caused the shelving of the Jana Sangh's more radical agenda.{{sfn|Guha|2007|pp=427–428}}

=== Janata Party (1977–80) ===
{{Main|Janata Party}}
In 1975, Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] imposed a [[The Emergency (India)|state of emergency]]. The Jana Sangh took part in the widespread protests, with thousands of its members being imprisoned along with other agitators across the country. In 1977, the emergency was withdrawn and general elections were held. The Jana Sangh merged with parties from across the political spectrum, including the [[Socialist Party (India)|Socialist Party]], the [[Indian National Congress (Organisation)|Congress (O)]] and the [[Bharatiya Lok Dal]] to form the Janata Party, with its main agenda being defeating Indira Gandhi.{{sfn|Guha|2007|p=136}} The Janata Party won a majority in 1977 and formed a government with [[Morarji Desai]] as Prime Minister. The former Jana Sangh contributed the largest tally to the Janata Party's parliamentary contingent, with 93 seats or 31% of its strength. [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee|Vajpayee]], previously the leader of the Jana Sangh, was appointed the [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Minister of External Affairs]].{{sfn|Guha|2007|pp=538–540}}

The national leadership of the former Jana Sangh consciously renounced its identity, and attempted to integrate with the political culture of the Janata Party, based on Gandhian and Hindu traditionalist principles. Political scientist [[Christophe Jaffrelot]] wrote that this proved to be impossible assimilation.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|pp=282–283}} The state and local levels of the Jana Sangh remained relatively unchanged, retaining a strong association with the RSS, which did not sit well with the moderate centre-right constituents of the Party.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|pp=292–301, 312}} [[Religious violence in India|Violence between Hindus and Muslims]] increased sharply during the years that the Janata Party formed the government, with former Jana Sangha members being implicated in the riots in [[Aligarh]] and [[Jamshedpur]] in 1978–79.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The other major constituents of the Janata Party demanded that the former  Jana Sangh members should dissociate themselves from the RSS, which they  refused to do. Eventually, a fragment of the Janata Party broke off to form the [[Janata Party (Secular)]]. The [[Premiership of Morarji Desai|Morarji Desai government]] was reduced to a minority in the Parliament, forcing Desai's resignation. Following a brief period of coalition rule, general elections were held in 1980, in which the Janata Party fared poorly, winning only 31 seats. In April 1980, shortly after the elections, the National Executive Council of the Janata Party banned its members from being 'dual members' of party and the RSS. In response, the former Jana Sangh members left to create a new political party, known as the Bharatiya Janata Party.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|pp=301–312}}{{sfn|Guha|2007|pp=538–540}}